My friend had organized a night where 8 to 10 volunteers would help prepare and serve a meal to the less fortunate. This was an excellent opportunity to help for a few hours and learn what goes on at this church. It was a great experience to do something meaningful and different from our everyday life. This church is located in the inner city and not the best area in the city. There is parking on the side of the church as well as at the back. We arrived at 5 p.m. and was greeted by Dora who has only worked there for a few weeks. She brought us into the kitchen where we had to wash our hands and put on gloves. We were all assigned duties such as cutting loaves of bread and buttering each slice, getting sets of fork, knife and spoon with a napkin together, and disinfecting all the tables. "Day old" breads are donated from places like Sobey's, Safeway and Cobs Bread and are put on shelves for hungry people to help themselves. The meal that evening consisted of a bowl of pea soup full of vegetables and ham, (made that afternoon), a thick slice of bread, some pudding and a banana. Each evening 300 to 350 hungry people line up at the front door waiting to get in for a meal. Dinner is served between 7 and 8 p.m. Since most of us volunteers knew each other, we had lots of fun as we were "working". We didn't know what to expect since 6 out of the 8 of us have never done this before. We brought out the food to be served onto a long counter, one volunteer handed out the cutlery, one scooped the soup, one gave a slice a bread, one a bowl of pudding and one handed out a banana. The other volunteers were helping bring out more food when needed and to just lend an extra hand. There were all types of people coming in, different races, ages and a few kids. It was very sad to see the parents having to bring their young children for a meal. Many people would smile and thank us for their food and then some others don't say a word. Some people wanted more than one serving but unfortunately, we were unable to give them extra. The hour went by very quickly, we ran out of pudding and only had a few bananas left. Now we had to clean up! We brought all the leftover food into the kitchen, wiped down everything, swept and mopped the floor. We also got to try the leftover food, the soup was quite tasty! I would recommend volunteering if you have a chance, get a few friends and/or co-workers together and sign up! It was rewarding knowing that my time was appreciated by the Mustard Seed and learning what resources are available for those less fortunate. read more

The place is underfunded, run down and dangerous. Constant use of drugs and alcohol around the facility. Constant drama and fighting amongst the people seeking shelter. Staff seem more concerned about playing on their phones or taking naps in the main office then running a shelter. Surly staff with attitudes. God forbid you ask them for anything like opening up the showers even though you have proof of employment. Ask for anything period and it seems like the end of the world for them to get off their lazy a$$es and do anything. Not a good experience at all, I would never return to this facility. Still there for now, since this is public record I hope you read this. Also the no personal blankets policy is ridiculous when you don't even have enough clean blankets to provide the overflow are with one. If there's 40 beds, there should be 40 blankets available. Pretty simple mathematics as far as I'm concerned. Avoid this place at all costs, Hope Mission is worse but this place is run by power tripping rude staff and they don't even have enough blankets for everyone. We're not animals, we're people in a rough spot. Get your act together, in all honesty, this place is pathetic. read more

A church/agency helping people in the inner city with practical needs such as food, clothing, and a safe place to spend time. It's run by people who live their faith by working with those less fortunate. They also organize events throughout the year and city that raise funds for their efforts. People volunteer here by serving meals, and also The Mustard Seed accepts financial support as well as things like donations of clothing and toiletries. I know some people who spend a lot of time here, both as clients and volunteers, and it has changed their lives. read more

Well I must say The Mustard Seed Church has gone down hill from what it used to be. I used to be a volunteer, there. I get that since donations weren't coming in they had to shut down due to lack of funds. However when I went back there 8 years after I stopped volunteering I was shocked. The afternoon drop in was dead compared to what it used to be especially in the winter. I found out that they didn't serve dinner anymore and didn't do after dinner activities either. read more

My friend was recruiting volunteers for the meal program served at the Mustard Seed Street Church. They ideally want 10 volunteers but that night, there were 8 ladies. There is parking in the alley behind the church and we went up the stairs to the kitchen at 5PM. We were greeted by the staff person and started with washing our hands, putting on gloves and hair nets. This put us in a Laverne and Shirley mood all night and we couldn't help but sing the theme song, or hum it. On that evening's menu was soup, bread, pudding, and banana. The soup and pudding were already prepared so we didn't get to get down and dirty peeling vegetables or cooking food. But there's no shortage or jobs to do. Two of us were putting together the cutlery wrapped in a napkin. Others were buttering bread, wiping down tables and chairs, and putting the bakery out in the area where clients could take them. Closer to 7, we took out the pudding and got to put chocolates in each one. Fun! Since dinner is served at 7, we all had a job of serving food, runners to make sure supplies are stocked, and one lucky volunteer got to wash the dishes. There can be up to 350 people for the dinner, so you never know how many to expect but there was a line up. At 7, the doors were opened and the Mustard Seed staff handed each person a plate. They came to the serving table where we gave them cutlery, bowl of soup, slice of bread, pudding, and a banana. Most people were so gracious saying thank you. Sometimes people asked for a second helping but we weren't able to provide them more. We were serving for an hour but the line decreased for the last 20 minutes or so. The toughest part was lifting the heavy pots of soup off the stove, onto the cart, and the serving table. At 8, we brought the food into the kitchen and closed the door. Volunteers then had the opportunity to eat. We had the soup (good with ham, potatoes, and other vegetables), bread, and banana (we ran out of pudding). The next half of hour we all worked efficiently to the kitchen cleaned with putting away dishes, cleaning the counters, sweep, and mop. Got a little sweaty but all for a good cause. Because we worked quickly, we left at 8:30. We also donated toiletries which clients can take (good use of extra hotel shampoos!). They have the dinner from Monday-Saturday so lots of opportunities for families (teenagers are welcome to help), work groups, and friends to spend a few hours and have fun while helping the community. I saw they have lots of openings in Sept-Nov and we will definitely do it again. Thank you Mustard Seed for a fun volunteer experience and all the work you do to help those who don't have much! read more

The Mustard Seed is a Christian humanitarian organization. Their mission is to address poverty in the greater Edmonton area through by building a healthy community and sharing God's love. This is such a great organization and I'm' so glad that we have The Mustard Seed in Edmonton. Here are some of the programs that the Mustard Seed offers: Celebrate Recovery - a weekly 12-step recovery program Community Kitchen - this provides an opportunity for a group of people to get together plan and cook affordable and nutritious meals. Literacy Tutoring - (done in partnership with Project Adult Literacy Society) - one-on-one tutoring that allows people to improve their reading and writing skills. The Mustard Seed also offers evening meals 6 nights a week, a food depot (an outlet for the Food Bank), and a personal assistance centre that provides household items, clothes, etc, free for those in need. The Mustard Seed is a great organization. The staff are passionate and they work hard. read more

I am not aligned with any religeon, or church. If I had to be though, The Mustard Seed church would be one of my highest considerations. These guys walk the walk. I think it is disrespectful to give any faith based organisation anything less than five stars (unless it is a psuedo science/cult) read more