On-site Volunteer

What is the primary focus for on-site volunteers?

Our primary focus is creating relationships with the women and children living in the motels and, occasionally, on the streets along Delk Road and Franklin Gateway. 

What do volunteers do on-site?

Volunteers are needed to welcome, serve, and sit with our friends when they arrive – every volunteer is an extension of the ongoing relationships being formed.

Are there some specifics you can share?

Volunteers serve in the dining room by asking our friends what they would like to eat, drink, and then serving them. We also hope you will sit with our friends, eat together, and have encouraging conversations with them. A few people (mostly men) work behind the scenes in the food prep area, by refilling empty containers, washing dishes, wiping counters, making it tidy, and supporting those who are working in the dining room.

Do I have to serve in a certain area?

We encourage volunteers to serve where they are most comfortable. However, no matter where you are serving, stay spiritually sensitive and in prayer. We are a relational ministry, but there are ways you can serve on-site and ease into sitting with our guests. Many of our long-term volunteers stayed in the background for a while until they were comfortable sitting alone with guests.

Are there Bible studies or devotion times?

On weekdays, we pause for a short Bible Study / Devotion to help our friends engage more with Jesus.

Do you go into the community? 

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, a team goes into the community on a prayer walk. If any women or children are encountered, the team offers a small gift, prayer, and an invitation to come back to The Table for lunch.

Tell me more about the prayer walk.

Provided we have enough volunteers, we go on Wednesday and Saturdays for 45-60 minutes.  A trained outreach Lead will take 3-4 volunteers on a prayer walk around the parking lots of the motels we serve. The trained Lead will do all the talking while the volunteers pray, carry the gifts, and follow the suggestions of the Lead. 

We do not knock on motel doors, enter motel rooms, or approach people in cars. This is an intentional time of prayer for those we cannot see behind closed curtains and doors, and for those the Lord allows us to encounter.

If interested in participating, please wear weather-appropriate clothing and comfortable walking shoes (we go in all seasons and in all types of weather). The walk is not recommended for anyone suffering from physical ailments.   

What time do you welcome guests/friends?

We are open for lunch from 11:30am-2pm.  Guests leave around 2pm and we wrap up by 3pm. 

10am-3pm is a long day.  Do I have to be there for the whole time?

We understand that it is a long day, but we feel that all parts are important – training/orientation, prayer, serving, debriefing, and cleaning up.  We have tried dividing the day into shifts and it doesn’t work.  We serve as a team and it’s difficult to determine who is part of the team and who is a friend if volunteers are coming and going at different times.

If I have done the Orientation once, can I come later?

Since we present a lot of information at one time, it’s recommended that you go through the Orientation a few times.  It allows you to make practical application to what you’re learning, and helps you remember things if you’re not serving on a weekly basis.

After you’re comfortable with the information, we would like you to arrive at 10:30am to help with setting up, then participate in prayer time before we open at 11:30am.