Caltech students and community gather at the Caltech Y to pack up groceries and carpool to Union Station Homeless Services’ Adult Center in Pasadena. In the center’s industrial kitchen, volunteers prepare 40 to 80 meals, including a main dish, vegetable, starch, dessert, and drink. The kitchen is always a flurry of activity as volunteers chop vegetables, boil water in huge 10 to 16 quart pots, bake main dishes and desserts, and prepare plates to serve the residents. Once most of the residents have been served, volunteers take breaks in shifts to get their own plates of food and sit with the residents as they eat. Once dinner is finished, there is still plenty to do washing plates and cups and scrubbing pots and trays.

Each volunteer has the opportunity to learn more about homelessness in our local community and about the resources to help people get back on their feet.