Venice Interfaith Community Association

A little over a year ago, a small (less than a dozen) group of people got together to ask the question, "What can we do to make this a better community?" Among the ideas shared was the desire to help feed the homeless and others in need in the Venice area. It was apparent early on that for this to work well it must be an effort put forth by the whole faith-based community.

So....we held a little soup and salad dinner at St. Mark's Episcopal church and invited folks from all the area churches to come by and see if we wanted to do an interfaith undertaking of unprecedented size in Venice. And about 175 people showed up! Soon, over 250 peopled had signed up to volunteer for this noble cause. The faith-based was alive and ready to accept the challenge!

We held our first dinner at St. Mark's in April. ...and 16 guests in need showed up. We found out they don't show up in big numbers until they are sure they can trust and be comfortable with us. We continued to hold dinners about every other week at St. Mark's and the numbers grew....from 16 to 30, then 50 and more.

In June we added Venice United Church of Christ (VUCC.) as a host church and between them and St. Mark's we now were serving dinner once a week.

And we are offering more than just a meal....SCAT bus passes are available through us. We send our guest out after dinner with
fresh fruit, toiletry items, and often refer them to other places where might find more help. Friendships were forged, volunteer - to - volunteer and volunteer - to - guest.

And now, in mid-September, 2009 we are averaging well over 100 guests per dinner. We are a dynamic, vital force in our community!

So we owe a lot of thanks to a great many people.

Thanks to Father Chris Gray, Father Jim Puryear and the staff at St. Mark's Episcopal Church for being the first to say "Yes, and let's do it here!"
Thanks to VICA for being there from the beginning to let us use them to have non-profit, tax-exempt status and for allowing us to do our finances through their staff at no cost. VICA also started us off with a nice cash donation from their "Taste of Faith" Dinner.
Thanks to Rabbi Ann White and the staff at the Jewish Center of Venice for use of their kitchen and workers to prepare the meals served at VUCC.
Thanks to Bill Hershkowitz and Jim Blow for being our chefs.
Thanks to Rev. Charles Wiggins and our friends at Trinity Presbyterian for agreeing to be our third host church starting in October.
Thanks to Carol Prichard and the handful of people, who eighteen months ago had the audacity, courage, and faith to believe that this could actually be done.
Thanks to the churches and people who have donated dollars and product to the cause.
Thanks to All Faiths Food Bank for their generosity.
Thanks to all our volunteers....this just doesn't happen without you!
Thanks to God in whom all things are possible.

Here is another example of our organization being of service in our community in a vital, much needed effort. Please consider how much you can be of service and let us know. More information about the dinners can be had by contacting Carol Burmeister Prichard at 493-2597 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .