Day 19

Name: Wayne Marshall

Profession: Retired

Location: On the street outside of The Cathedral Church of St. Paul

Question: Why are you here?

Answer: To demonstrate God’s love by helping the less fortunate

365 Debuts (3D): Why are you here tonight?

Wayne Marshall (WM): The reason I am here is to show God’s love to all my brothers and sisters everywhere without conditions or limits.

3D: So what is it you are literally doing?

WM: Literally, we are handing out food and clothing to those that need it.

3D: Do you do that every night?

WM: Just on Monday nights. Other ministries do other night but we just do Monday nights.

3D: And you’re a member of the church?

WM: Not this church.

3D: What church are you a member of?

WM: St. Joseph’s Church in Medway.

3D: What kind of church is that?

WM: It’s a Catholic church. A Roman Catholic church. There are people from many different churches in the area of Medway that come in with us. Many of them are various different peoples. Many of the people that are here handing it out, like myself, had nothing to do with preparing the food or supplying the clothes.

3D: And who usually comes to collect the food and clothing?

WM: Anything from six and twelve people, different people, come on different night.

3D: How do they know that this is here?

WM: How do the homeless people know? Well, people who are homeless in Boston know everything that’s going on in the street. This ministry, regularly, not me, but this ministry has been coming here for fifteen years. So the homeless people are very familiar with it.

3D: Do you know the people personally? Is it the same people every Monday?

WM: Many of them do. We see many of the people. We know them by their first names.

3D: Do you do anything during the week? What do you personally do during the week?

WM: I’m retired.

3D: Okay. What did you use to do before you retired?

WM: I was an electronics engineer and a project manager.

3D: Have you mostly been involved in the church since you’ve retired?

WM: Oh, I’ve been involved with the church for forty years, but I’ve been retired for half a dozen years or so, and I’ve been involved in this for two and a half years.

3D: And you’re here to deliver God’s message, you said?

WM: No, I said I’m—Yes. I’m here to deliver his message, which is love. But you asked me why I am here. God put me on this Earth with the purpose of sharing His love with all my brothers and sisters. He told us all the same thing. That’s really it: The Great Commandment, you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole mind and your whole soul, and you should love your brother and your sister and yourself.

3D: Are you involved in the Knights of Columbus as well?

WM: Nope…. It’s a wonderful organization, but I can only do so much!

[The interview, at this point, is interrupted by a very friendly homeless man, who is given the last of the cold pizza after conversing with the volunteers. “I’ll take whatever you can give me. I’ll put it in my refrigerator,” he jokes, referring to the 30 degree weather. “I’ve got a place for it.”]

WM: There’s the best answer to your question. Right there. We’re here to talk to people. That’s why many of them come out: just to talk. Have somebody to speak with and somebody to listen. Some people answer them. Clothing and food is often secondary.

3D: Do you have a family?

WM: Of course!

3D: Do they volunteer as well?

WM: There’s my wife, right there! [Laughs]

3D: Do you do any other charity during the week?

WM: This is my main weekly charity work.

3D: If someone was interested in donating food and clothing to you guys, what should they do? Who should they contact?

WM: Oh, wow. Chris. If you called, you could call the rectory, which is (508)533-6500. And then just say that you’d like to help out with the Homeless Ministry, the Monday Night Homeless Ministry, that’s what we call ourselves, we don’t have an official name, and they would direct you. Probably Chris would answer the phone.