In Springfield, volunteers create a hoagie assembly line for Martin Luther King Day of Service

Posted 1/16/20

Volunteers take par in the annual hoagie assembly line as par of Martin Luther King Day of Service work at Flourtown's First Presbyterian Church of Springfield. by April Lisante Six years ago, Beth …

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In Springfield, volunteers create a hoagie assembly line for Martin Luther King Day of Service

Posted
Volunteers take par in the annual hoagie assembly line as par of Martin Luther King Day of Service work at Flourtown's First Presbyterian Church of Springfield.

by April Lisante

Six years ago, Beth Bauer decided she wanted her church to do more for the community.

So as a member of Flourtown’s First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, she vowed to make the church more known in the community.

“We were known as the big church on the corner next to the Acme,” said Bauer. “We wanted to be more than that.”

So she undertook a weighty task: chairing a committee to build a Martin Luther King day of service where so many local organizations would benefit from the kindness of local participants.

The first year, in 2014, yielded 40 people who came through the side door just off of East Mill Road, ready to help and donate their time. They made food, placemats and bags for the less fortunate, but it didn’t stop there. The following year, Bauer put a registration component on the website, and they came.

It was a shock at first. Hundreds of local families searching for some way to help on Martin Luther King Day came forward en masse to help.

This week, the church is gearing up for perhaps its largest day of service yet. Expecting nearly 400 people this coming Monday, they are honing their tried and true donation stations, from their signature hoagie assembly line to their kid-friendly trail mix station.

Preparation for the event begins in October and culminates when they create about 300 hoagies for the less fortunate and for local firefighters. Their more than 400 bags of trail mix and sandwiches travel as far as Center City for the homeless who attend church services twice a month outdoors, in the open park space across from the Franklin Institute.

This is the week to do service in the name of Martin Luther King, from schools to community parks to rec centers and churches across our area. I have participated in the First Presbyterian Church day of service several times in the past and was always fascinated by their intense organization on the hoagie assemble line.

Wearing plastic gloves, members of the community use 10 pounds of ham, 14 pounds of bologna, more than nine pounds of Genoa salami and 15 pounds of provolone cheese to create nearly 300 hoagies for those in need.

Some of the hoagies go to the Whosoever Gospel Mission in Germantown, which offers counselling, rehabilitation and job readiness for homeless men.

“They said the men get institutional food all the time they would love to have hoagies,” Bauer said.

The remaining hoagies go to the volunteer firefighters in the three fire houses in Springfield Township.

For church member and hoagie assembly line veteran Karen Scott, of Ambler, it means the world.

“My husband has been with the Flourtown firehouse for 40 years,” Scott said. “Knowing the hoagies are going there is very special.”

The key to the infamous assembly line Is organization. Volunteers cut two cases of tomatoes and a case of lettuce after Sunday service, then prepare the meats for the hoagies on Monday morning. The meats were ordered from Joe’s Meat Market in Ardsley this past Tuesday, and the rolls for the hoagies come from Halligan’s Pub and must be pre-sliced. More than half a dozen volunteers sit ready for the influx of people by 11 a.m. Monday, with an assembly production.

“By the time we start, everybody knows what they are doing and its easy,” Scott said.

When volunteers come in, its time to slap on some gloves, then grab a roll and place 3 pieces of ham, 2 bologna, 2 cheese, tomato, lettuce, and hand it off as a finished hoagie to be wrapped.

“We can sort of control the chaos,” Bauer said. “People can step right up to the tables an get a job.”

“We go every year, said Anne Learnard, of Erdenheim, who attends with her two children. “It’s an amazing day they put together.”

At the trail mix table, a giant Costco run for Bauer means that kids mix up 32 pounds of mini pretzels, 10 cans of peanuts, nearly 24 pounds of M&M’s and an equal amount of Craisins to make a trail mix for the Center City churchgoers. Some of the trail mix bags get combined into care packages with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the Face to Face non-profit outreach program in Germantown.

“We tried to do something to invite the community in,” Bauer said. “We had no idea how it would turn out. It’s the community, adults, seniors, families, girl scouts.”

Participants are asked to being a canned good for the needy .If you’d like to participate in the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield Martin Luther King Community Day of Service, preregister online by Sunday evening Jan. 19 at www.FlourtownPres.org. 1710, Bethlehem Pk., Flourtown, Pa. 11:30 to 1:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 20.

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