Marie Sandvik Center

I am perplexed by Marie Sandvik Center as an organization. The story of the Samaritan woman at the well who meets Jesus is somewhat said to be of a metamorphosis of a sinner who with a chance encounter learns of forgiveness, repentance and acceptance. Of course the occasional muted degradation because she is a woman, but hey, who really pays any attention to these books? It brings us to Marie Sandvik Center, a non-profit organization that helps the needy of the neighborhood because, well, God cherishes them. It is a charitable organization and for providing assistance along with the ministry and biblical studies, they operate on private donations from donors and Churches. They do not receive state or federal money because of their huge involvement with the gospel ministry.Nevertheless, they're accepting of all folks who are needy regardless of their religious background, so long they're respectful and are willing to listen. Hours of operation are Tue & Fri 10-10pm, Thur 10-8pm, Sat 9-3pm, Sun 3-8. Meals are served on Tue, Thur, Fri and Sun. There is unfortunately no longer a shelter here, closed in 2004 due to budget limitations, but the folks here will help guide anyone in need of a shelter during operation hours. And by the way, if you're planning to donate any items, specifically toys, make sure they are bible-based and have Christian theme, as in Christian coloring books, VeggieTales or Bibletoons. That means no cult-like toys, like Pokemon, no Harry Potter because it promotes magic and palpably no immoral toys like SpongeBob. Yes, you cannot donate SpongeBob here, what God doesn't love SpongeBob?

I volunteered here with a group a few years ago. As a middle schooler or early high school student I put this non profit on the bottom of my list for a number of reasons.1) They had our group do a lot of tasks that seemed like their own job, like we were there take their work load off their backs for the day.2) When it came distributing food, there was tons of rotten fruits and vegetables. Our group wanted to through them away. Im not talking a dime sized rot, but like over half the piece of food. They assured us that the homeless would "just pick through the rot". I do not think anyone should have to pick through rotted food. 3) It was an overall bad experience, I had volunteered at many non profits and I can say that I simply did not care for how the staff did things around here. I will definitely never serve there again. It left a bad taste in all of our group members (Over 30 people) mouths.