Church Members Serve People’s Bodies and Souls

By Stan Kapelewski

We are proud to present this Month’s Humanitarian Award to the Praise Tabernacle Church at 251 Magnolia Street in Cranston, and all of their volunteers. Every Saturday from 6:30 am to 8:30 a.m., volunteers go to Crossroads and Kennedy Plaza to feed the needy. After the meal they walk around and take prayer requests from everyone, and also have little prayer sessions to those that want it. They also offer transportation to their church for Mass on Sunday for the 2:30 p.m. service.

Pastor Alan Pangburn runs the organization, and his son, Levi, is the outreach pastor who goes to the sites with the volunteers. They started this service back in March of 2006. When I asked Claudia Morales, and Ricardo Abreu (two of the many volunteers) what prompted them to help out like this their response was, “We do this because we want to give to the people the blessings that we have received by the grace of God, that being love, compassion, mercy, and the love of Jesus. We would like to reach out to people just like he would do.

They also offer makeovers for the homeless women every six weeks. This task is handled by Shirley. Volunteers include Ricardo Abreu, Cristina Fernandez, Marilyn Rodriguez, Claudia Morales, Chuck Johnson, Janet Houde, John Malicaro, Jeff Robinson, Artie Russo, John Joyce, Janeth Gonzalez, Leonidas Castillo, Jeannie Cunningham, Maurice Lowman, and others.

Leaders of the church are planning Hope for the Homeless during the first week of November. Events will include backpack giveaways, a walkathon on November 1, and an event at St. John’s Cathedral on November 8. Information: 781-1565.

Testimonials:
“The blessings of this church feed the homeless. God Bless them.” — Millican Man

“They’re nice people that really help us out a lot.” — Olga

“They fill our stomachs with food, and our souls with hope.” — David