St. Mary's Dining Room

The movie theater is about as far into downtown Stockton as I usually go, but if you drive just past the hustle and bustle of teenagers sneaking into R-rated movies and friends catching the latest blockbuster you'll discover a pale blue building that is really making a difference in Stockton.

You might not have ever heard of them or maybe you at least know they serve meals to the hungry, but what you might not know is that that pale blue building, just past the movie theater, is called St. Mary's Dining Room. It's also where I spent my Saturday morning.

If life has taught me anything, it is that you are responsible for the change you want to see. Contrary to the belief popularized by Disney movies, there is no fairy godmother waiting in the wings with a magic ward. In fact, the staff at St. Mary's Dining Room have all of their glass slippers accounted for, but still they report for duty at 545 W. Sonora Street bright and early everyday.

When I arrived on the scene on Saturday at 9:30 AM (what my college self could have sworn was the crack of dawn) the place was crowded and I had already missed the first meal of the day. Later they would be serving lunch and after that an afternoon snack. But St. Mary's serves more than just meals.

For anyone that can make it to the campus, no questions asked, they offer an assortment of services: hot showers, clothes, hair cuts, social services, homeless court, medical, hygiene, dental and optometry care and even a preschool program for 3-5 year olds.

In 2012, they served over 361,000 meals between the months of January and November alone, but these meals were not paid for with government funds. St. Mary's is non-profit organization that appreciates all the help they can get. They accept financial gifts as well as donations of food and clothing in order to keep their services running. Just as important, however, are donations of your time. Even an hour makes a big difference in a kitchen that serves an average of 700 people a day. In fact, without the thousands of volunteer hours donated last year, those meal could not have been served

I encourage all of you to visit St. Mary's website and, instead of spending ten dollars at the movie theater, make an appointment to volunteer. You'll be empowering an organization that restores dignity to a community of people who are down on their luck in a city that has seen better days. We have to get better together, if our city is to have any hope of getting better at all.

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