Mary Alice Law - Community Outreach Director for Haw's United Methodist Church in Norristown, PA - Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Download Audio... Our Woman of the Week this week was nominated by her friend Lisa Bova, who is inspired by Mary Alice’s tireless efforts each week in the community. Although Mary Alice works full time as a legal assistant, about 8 years ago, she heard the Lord’s call to help feed the hungry, homeless and less fortunate in the Norristown area. She presented the idea of a soup kitchen to UMC on Haws Avenue and was granted approval to use their fellowship hall for lunch on Sundays. MaryAlice started with 4 teams of volunteers who were able to prepare and serve lunch on the second and fourth Sunday of every month. Now, the team is up to over 90 volunteers who are all willing to spend 1 Sunday every 9th week to serve the hungry people in the community. Further, MaryAlice has reached out to organizations to help stock the food pantry; organizations like Genuardi’s are who now donate baked goods along with other companies and individuals. WOTW: How did you get started down this path? MaryAlice: About 13 years ago I was a Youth Leader at my church. We took a few youths to St. John’s Soup Kitchen to do volunteer work. After that day, my friend and I Dot kept going back each Saturday for about 5 years. I learned from Grace and Cecil Bean who ran St. John’s kitchen, that there was a place every day of the week for the homeless to eat, but no place to go on Sunday. I learned everything about running a Soup Kitchen from them. The pastor at that time gave me the go-ahead to open the Haws Avenue Soup Kitchen. The next mission will present the next challenge. Mary Alice is helping Pastor Tracy Bass start a “Transitional House” for single men. This project is in its beginning phase, but with God’s blessing, it will be a great option to help the men in the Norristown community get back on their feet. By making such an amazing difference in her community, MaryAlice epitomizes what the Woman of the Week is all about. You can read the full story in the For Her Section of www.phillyburbs.com. We hope her story inspires you to do something in your community that makes a difference – Pray or Pay it Forward. If you’d like to nominate a Woman of the Week, please email me – Marilyn@957benfm.com. |