November 2022 Newsletter

On Christmas Eve when the buses pull up to 286 Lafayette Ave on Buffalo’s West Side and the guests walk into the building, many are shy and apprehensive. Living homeless over time can cause most to be overly cautious. But when they see the volunteers greet them and wish them Merry Christmas, their looks of bewilderment very quickly turn to smiles. 

The guests take a seat at the beautifully decorated tables as they are welcomed to the annual Christmas Eve dinner; a decades-long partnership between Hearts and the Buffalo Dream Center. The guests start to let their guard down and they join in with the laughter. They cheer gleefully for those who won raffle prizes and when they are asked to stand for the “Ice Breaker”, hardly anyone is seated. Guests and volunteers dance to the “Cupid Shuffle” as the music plays from the speakers. It’s quite a sight to see, dozens of people from every walk of life dance and laugh together.

After everyone takes their seats Pastor Eric Johns of the Buffalo Dream Center shares a message of salvation and invites anyone to the front to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Tears of joy flow from both those receiving prayer and onlookers alike. When the service is over, dinner is served and the smell of fresh lasagna fills the air. Looking around the room you can hardly tell that most of these people who came in were strangers. Without context, one might believe it was a large family dinner and in fact, it is!

Dinner finishes, and people make their way back to the buses, volunteers say their goodbyes to their new friends and send them with a bag of Christmas cookies; which is one of the many contributions from the Hearts donors and volunteers. 

As the tables begin to be cleared, as a volunteer, you are left feeling a deep sense of fulfillment that God used you to touch the lives of people who are often forgotten. Even though the meal will only sustain  them for a night, the memories will last a lifetime.