The father McKenna center in dc

I am Arturo Soriano III, son of Jenkins Restorations employee Arturo Soriano. I am a 10th grader at Gonzaga College High School, an all boys Catholic school in DC that encourages service. We have opportunities to go on service trips and have a homeless shelter and food pantry on our campus called the Father McKenna Center. In December, I packed food for Servants with a Heart with my dad and other Jenkins employees, and this food typically goes both to Nicaragua and the Carolinas; however, my parents and I thought that we should bring some back and give it to the McKenna Center the next time our family served at its hypothermia program. On Thursday February 13th, we worked at the Center and donated the food for the food pantry. The Center’s pantry is open to all homeless people around the area and Gonzaga students help with the pantry during lunch periods. The hypothermia program is more limited as it involves housing people for the nights in winter. As a result, the Center’s hypothermia program is limited to only men and they must actively want to get out of homelessness. The McKenna Center funds therapy for those suffering from addiction in the program; however, if the men continue to abuse substances and themselves, then the shelter cannot house them. The center is strict and disciplined as we want to help those who want to be helped. If there are men who continue bad habits, then someone who follows good habits would not have this opportunity. The pantry is open to all men and women, regardless of whether they were turned down for the hypothermia program. We were able to share food with those in and out of the program and it was a great experience!