New Video! Easter Brunch

Thanks to the donors and volunteers that made the Easter Brunch possible for the homeless and people in need. 621 meals were served, and 432 hygiene kits, called "Hope Totes" were distributed. Check out the video of the Easter event!

Food Drive with Haggen Food & Pharmacy and Furniture Outlet

A great way to help homeless and hurting neighbors this Thanksgiving is to bring non-perishable items to Furniture Outlet locations or purchase $5 grocery bags at Haggen Food & Pharmacy stores.

You can purchase the $5 grocery bags or donate non-perishable food items at the following Haggen Food & Pharmacy locations:

Oregon City
19701 Highway 213
Oregon City, OR

Tanasbourne Town Center
18000 NW Evergreen Pkwy.
Beaverton, OR

Murray Hill
9055 SW Murray Blvd.
Beaverton, OR

Tualatin
8514 SW Tualatin-Sherwood Rd
Tualatin, OR


Furniture Outlet locations are also accepting donations of non-perishable food items at these locations:

Tigard
14255 SW Pacific Hwy 99W
Tigard, OR

Hubbard
3776 Pacific Hwy 99E
Hubbard, OR

McMinnville
2435 NE Cumulus Ave
McMinnville, OR

Salem
2787 NE Lancaster Dr
Salem, OR

We thank these businesses for partnering with us to provide meals to our neighbors in need!

New Video! Progress on main floor/kitchen demolition

The main floor is unrecognizable! The demolition is well underway just two weeks into the project!

Take a look:



To learn more and support the work of UGM visit http://www.ugmportland.org/

Day 1 of the main floor renovation- video

Day 1 of the complete remodel of Union Gospel Mission's main floor began today with a sledgehammer "bang!"

Take a look- new video:

New Video: Sack lunches for people in need

Every weekday morning at 6:00 am people line up at the door of the Mission for a sack lunch or as its nicknamed a "swanny bag." For some people, it is the only food they might have for the entire day.



If you would like to support the work of Union Gospel Mission make a donation at:
https://www.ugmportland.org/secure/donate.cfm

Check it out: Kitchen Remodel page

The remodel of the kitchen is getting closer! Not only is the kitchen itself being remodelled, but the dining room floor will be torn out, and a new bathroom for use by the homeless/public will be constructed.

There is a page dedicated to this effort on our website:
http://www.ugmportland.org/kitchen.html

You can also make a special donation to support the kitchen at:
https://www.ugmportland.org/secure/kitchen.cfm

It is an exciting time!

Live! From Easter Brunch

Happy Easter! As of 12:10 pm on Easter Sunday 371 meals had been served.

Here is a little bit of "raw video" taken this morning of our guests and wonderful volunteers.



As of the end of the day, 469 meals served! Thanks to volunteers & donors!

Wow! 1,101 meals served at Thanksgiving

The day began early, as crews came to set up the 120' foot NW Natural Gas tent at 6:00 am and volunteers began preparing a the meal...

Over 300 volunteers were involved in preparing the Thanksgiving meal.

More than an hour before the event began, a line stretched along the block at W. Burnside street.

The NW Natural Gas tent was quickly filled as volunteer served 1,101 meals in just 4 short hours.

Yesterday, we only had 80 turkeys, but by Thanksgiving morning, nearly 300 turkeys had poured into Union Gospel Mission! We are blessed and humbled by the generosity of our community this Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Dinner for 1,000 at Union Gospel Mission

Thanksgiving is a mere 48 hours away. Many are preparing for friends and family to arrive for the big meal.

At Union Gospel Mission we are preparing for a big meal- a REALLY big meal, enough to feed over 1,000 people.

Here are the numbers:

100 Turkeys
175 lbs of stuffing
450 lbs mashed potatoes
60 gallons of gravy
200 lbs of yams
200 lbs mixed vegetables
2,000 dinner rolls
225 pies
60 gallons of juice

As I type at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, we are short 20 turkeys. We should be able to make it work with 80, but it would be nice to have the 100 turkeys to ensure we can generously heap the turkey meat on every plate, and provide some turkeys for food boxes for individuals and families in need.

Its not too late to help! You can give online at www.ugmportland.org or call us at 503-274-4483 or drop off a turkey at 15 NW Third Avenue in Portland.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Union Gospel Mission kitchen remodel

Union Gospel Mission's kitchen is in need of remodeling so that Union Gospel Mission can continue to serve over 100,000 meals per year to people in need. Take a look at this video to see the kitchen:

Easter Highlight video

We're very excited! We have started taking video of various events and we're able to share them with our friends online.

Here is our first effort, a look at highlights from our Easter event:

Easter re-cap

Easter Sunday was a soggy one, but it didn't stop Union Gospel Mission's Easter Brunch! 650 meals were served.

The crowd was steady throughout the day....

Over 200 volunteers helped prepare and serve the meal. We received a great donation of ham from Carlton Farms, and many Easter donations through the mail to support the meal. Thanks to volunteers and donors people who might have spent the holiday alone in the rain instead enjoyed a wonderful Easter meal at Union Gospel Mission.

Easter Eggs needed...

We don't need these pretty, colorful kind (though they are nice!) What Union Gospel Mission needs are 1,500 regular eggs (yes, over a thousand!) to provide an Easter Sunday brunch to people who are homeless or in need.

The menu for the Easter brunch is ham, eggs, biscuits and country gravy, mixed fruit, juice and coffee. Plastic forks and spoons are also needed.

What Union Gospel Mission, and over a hundred wonderful volunteers, want to do this Easter Sunday is to provide a special brunch, and a welcoming place for people who are homeless, in need of food or otherwise would spend the holiday alone. Typically, Union Gospel Mission provides between 600 and 700 meals on Easter Sunday.

If you want to donate eggs or plastic forks and spoons those can be dropped off at 15 NW Third Avenue in Portland, or call 503-274-4483. Donations online accepted at http://www.ugmportland.org/

Christmas Day at Union Gospel Mission

It's 1:20 pm on Christmas Day, and the snow is falling! (Can you make out the snowflakes on the picture taken in front of the Mission minutes ago?)

Today Union Gospel Mission is serving a meal and distributing clothing to those who are homeless or in need of a meal and companionship on Christmas Day.

As of 1:00 pm we had served 560 meals, and we are on our way to serving about 700 or so.

Here is the scene in Union Gospel Mission's dining hall, where a meal of ham, mashed potatoes, yams, dinner rolls, fruit and pie are served.

Volunteers distributed gifts of clothing, hygiene items and toys for children from our garage entrance. Thanks to adidas, we were able to hand out bags of new clothing to people in need.

A team of volunteers from Union Gospel Mission took to the streets to distribute bags of clothing and reach out to people in need on the street. They stopped to chat with and wish a Merry Christmas to the gentleman with the blue coat and beard. This volunteer team distributed socks, underwear and few plates of food to people they encountered on Burnside street near Union Gospel Mission.

We are very blessed this Christmas to share a meal with people who come to the Mission, the volunteers and the donors who have been so generous.

Merry Christmas!