Shawna Bailley‑Schermerhorn

Solana Beach Presbyterian

I first became involved with Ladle Fellowship shortly after I moved to San Diego around 2009.

I remember being so taken aback with how many people the Ladle ministry reached each week. It was, and is, quite an undertaking to not only provide hot meals, groceries, clothing items, and even medical care to so many, but to do so in the midst of such brokenness (extreme homelessness, including women/children, coupled with many mentally and physically ill individuals).

I regularly helped out at Ladle for a year or so until I moved from downtown San Diego closer to North County. Then in 2012, I was looking for a church for our family and remembered back to my Ladle days. I remembered that Solana Beach Presbyterian Church would often bring their youth band to perform during the Sunday meal. Those particular Sundays always stuck with me because not every church would bring kids to an urban setting with 150+ homeless people around, yet SBPC did and those kids ministered and served those attendees in a way that our regular church music/​soundtrack or staff could never do. I knew I wanted to be a part of a church that had a heart for all of God’s people and encouraged and supported that for everyone, including their youngest members.

I am grateful for the path God has laid out for me, which helped me find Solana Beach Presbyterian Church through Ladle Fellowship.

Michael Martinez

Ladle guest and volunteer

Being homeless in the early 2000’s Mary Jones and I as guests at Ladle’s Sunday Dinner were Blessed being fed Spiritually and Physically and dressed with clean clothing from time to time. Being treated with Love and Respect we both decided to give back to Ladle Ministries by volunteering our time to help Ladle serve the Homeless and Community at large. The Teamwork involved was AMAZING. May God Bless Ladle Ministries with many more years to come.

Rosemary Cabanban

The following article appeared in NEXUS, a student news site at Westview High school on October 27, 2023

Young Life Serves at Soup Kitchen

by Rosemary Cabanban, Sports Editor

Westview Young Life joined with the Ladle Fellowship, a food distribution organization, to serve meals and clothes to San Diego’s unhoused community at the First Presbyterian Church in downtown San Diego, Oct 8. Bob Klein, the Westview Young Life leader and a Westview football coach, said that in the approximate 15 times Westview Young Life has worked with Ladle over the last two years, more than 150 Westview students have served in the food and clothing distribution. Westview Young Life, Klein says, provides students with the encouragement and security to interact with and help the people outside their circle of Rancho Peñasquitos. He said he hopes to have more student members join Westview Young Life and the Young Life Club, which will involve meetings with games, pizza, singing, and religious discussion.

“Here at Westview, we live in a pretty nice part of the city, but there are lots of hurting people in San Diego,” Klein said. “A lot of students haven’t gotten this close to unhoused people, so there’s a certain apprehension about doing that. Here [at the First Presbyterian Church] is a place that’s safe, and Westview Young Life is a school organization that helps support the students.” Klein said that the members of Westview Young Life often work alongside football, cheer, and lacrosse teams at community service events. These opportunities allow the athletes, like Gavin Donnelly (9), to help the unhoused community of San Diego and make new connections with other students.

This month, he packaged meals of soup, bread, and salad in the church’s kitchen with three other football players and Young Life members. “We were all given tasks to help,” Donnelly said. “Some of us bagged food and passed it out, some distributed clothes, some brought around water, and some even helped with giving haircuts. It’s self-fulfilling because [helping with the Ladle Fellowship] makes you feel like you’ve something important.” Donnelly participated in the event for the second time alongside Westview students, Young Life leaders, Ladle Fellowship members, and local volunteers. Donnelly first learned about Westview Young life through his football coach, Klein, at football summer camp. He helped with the Ladle Fellowship over the summer for the first time and said he gained satisfaction from helping others and staying active in his community, which inspired him to serve again this month.

“I like to get out of the house and do something productive,” Donnelly said. “It’s just a fun thing to do with friends or family to make memories. The Young Life events have helped me meet more Westview students and have brought me closer to them. I also love just seeing people react because they are genuinely thankful for what we’re doing.”

This year, 10,264 individuals were counted experiencing homelessness in San Diego by the 2023 WeAllCount Point-in-Time Count, portraying an increase of at least 14% from last year. Although the lack of stable housing is an increasingly large issue to tackle, Westview Young Life and the Ladle Fellowship are doing their part to help others in the way they can. This month, they succeeded in providing meals, clothing, haircuts, blankets, medical care, toiletries, and a safe, welcoming space for more than 1000 people. Their supplies rely on the donations of volunteers.

Young Life is a Christian ministry that has collaborated with Westview, as well as several middle schools, high schools, and universities across the country and worldwide. Klein said that he’s excited to have Young Life present in Westview since he joined Young Life as a sophomore in high school, and the organization brought together people from several different backgrounds, faiths, and races. He made memories from fun get-togethers to regular community service opportunities. After meeting with the Ladle Fellowship, Klein decided that the soup kitchen would be perfect for Westview students looking to help their community.

“I came [to the First Presbyterian Church] and served [in the soup kitchen] once, and knew this would be a great place for Westview students to see the needs in our city and have an opportunity to do something that makes a difference,” Klein said. In addition to receiving community service hours, the students learn what it is like to serve their community. “You’re caring about somebody besides yourself and touching a need in our city,” Klein said. “And one of the ways you can do that is to come serve with a group like Ladle.”

Donnelly said he will continue to participate in activities that positively impact the San Diego community. A small contribution, he says, can make someone’s day a little better. “It just makes me feel good that I can help someone out,” Donnelly said. “Through these events, I learned how to better my community. I know that not everyone can provide for themselves, but I can see how thankful people are for the help. I’m just happy that I’m able to lend a hand to people in need.”

Kate Williams

The following article appeared in THE POINT, an online student news site at Point Loma Nazarene University on April 9, 2025.

Art in Transit Vol. 3: A portrait of Ladle Fellowship

by Kate Williams

Drawing by Kate Williams

Enough blue ink can become the image of a tattered, plaid scarf. A camouflage jacket warming its weary wearer. Two shy eyes beneath the brim of an orange and brown baseball cap noticed the pen’s attention to them. When I showed Cory his portrait, he smiled. Cory and about 300 more unsheltered guests arrived at Ladle Fellowship at First Presbyterian Church in downtown San Diego on Sunday, March 31, between 2 and 4 p.m., for a hot meal. The church was packed on this last day of March since government aid checks often run low at the end of the month for those who rely on them.

Elizabeth Rico, youth and young adults director at First Presbyterian, said that Ladle Fellowship attracts many international churches, especially those from Korea and China. After the group prayer, the volunteers divided to help at six different stations: haircut corner, foot washing station, clothing requests, device charging, property department and street corner care. These stations had a powerful impact on more than 2,500 people over the 42 years of Ladle. The ministry has given 3,233 meals, 994 clothing orders, 178 haircuts and has seen 363 people at street corner care. Pascal Dickinson, the director of Ladle, gave me these hopeful statistics. [Kate misunderstood Pascal. These statistics were for the first three months of 2025]

Rico advised me to seek him out for my next interview. She described his leadership as “contagious.” I set off on my journey through the sunny, bustling courtyard to find the person who matched Rico’s description: a lanky, tattooed man with a baseball cap embroidered with “Never Grow Up.” Exploring the ministry was a complex experience. Some homeless visitors were practically dragging themselves inside the wide doors, exhausted, hungry, dirty or wounded. I saw the enormous load of their situation weighing heavy on their stooping backs. Yet, they came vulnerable and open. People closed their eyes and relaxed at the haircut station, allowing volunteers to massage their scalp with soap and snip away. They took a load off at the biblically-inspired foot washing station. The tents offered simple services – nothing glamorous. I had never considered these small moments of relief to be luxuries, but they had the power to lift heavy burdens, visibly easing people’s bodies and minds.

One upbeat visitor, Dereck “D-Rock” Williams, was also looking for Dickinson. We started chatting in the meantime, and I learned that Williams was a first tenor in the San Diego Street Choir, a homeless choir that performs Sunday nights at various churches, including First Presbyterian. Williams reminisced about performing with Voices of Our City in 2020 on America’s Got Talent, an audition that earned a golden buzzer from judge Terry Crews and a standing ovation from Howie Mandel, another judge. Williams was telling me about his interest in getting dental implants to improve his singing abilities, when suddenly I spotted the words “Never Grow Up” floating above the crowd.

“Lanky” was right. I was one of many to approach Dickinson; visitors and volunteers alike were drawn to him, greeting him, asking questions and exchanging updates about their lives and the church. He called them all by name and returned the excitement. When my turn to talk to Dickinson arrived, I realized I was not only receiving Ladle’s life story but also his own. In 1983, Ladle Fellowship didn’t begin as the miraculous, altruistic, godly event that it is today. It originated as a sidewalk table meant to serve coffee and donuts to young businessmen amid the area’s corporate growth. However, instead of suits and ties, the table was attracting rags and blankets. Ladle was transformed to tend to this alternate need, and the homeless ministry was born, according to the website.

Dickinson got involved in the service in 2016 when Resurrection Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon, started renting out space. Dickinson used his cosmetology license to create the haircut program. A few years later, the jack-of-all-trades shifted to helping at street corner care, as he was enrolled in prerequisite classes for nursing school. Finally, after losing his salesman position due to the 2023 Solar crash, Dickinson was invited to apply for the director position of Ladle from Jeff Myers, the head pastor, in 2024.

While Dickinson spoke energetically about Ladle and his journey, a steady flow of unsheltered visitors continued to crowd around him. People came asking for second servings of food, extra blankets and cat food. Having walked around the shelter earlier, I knew it had limited supplies. Yet, Dickinson never said “no.” I didn’t hear a single request be dismissed, turned away or rejected. He engaged in conversations to find ways around scarcity. When a woman asked for a blanket without a ticket, he told her to wait at the end of the line and explain her situation — someone would help.

Williams reappeared to greet Dickinson and continued the conversation about dental implants that he and I had talked about earlier. Dickinson told Williams the names of a few friends who offer free dental care downtown, and the two worked out the details. I didn’t fully understand how, but Ladle had created a sense of abundance out of scarcity. Dickinson called Ladle a bright reflection of Jesus Christ, full of humility and servitude. As our interview carried on, he shared his personal experience with the brokenness those experiencing homelessness were facing.

After a car accident in 2006, Dickinson was dependent on opioids, praying to God to reveal himself. He struggled for three years with the addiction. It was not until 2009 that a miraculous event brought Dickinson back to faith – the birth of his son. Fatherhood demanded Dickinson’s full presence, attention and unconditional love — something he knew wouldn’t be possible with his drug use, he said. He felt that God had been shaping him his entire life for this. Even at 14 years old, stacking chairs and making coffee at 12-step program meetings, Dickinson knew that being there for others was an essential part of who he was. If he were to leave that behind, he’d be leaving himself, and worse, God, behind. Dickinson said he was grateful for God’s trials and gifts, all preparing him to serve as the director of Ladle today. The beautiful display of human perseverance, abundance and humility radiated off of the church as he finished off the interview with a fitting verse:

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for the least of me” (Matt. 25:40).

John Bord

Head of committee that first proposed Ladle ministry

John was a law student and member of FPC. He played a key role in the founding of Ladle. During the Covid outbreak he sent a letter to our pastor, Jerry Andrews, describing the role he played at the beginning of Ladle. It is a fascinating and inspiring story. You can view the letter here. To view a two part video where Jerry reads and comments on this letter click the button below

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George Benthien

Member First Presbyterian

George Has been a Ladle volunteer for over 40 years. A video interview of George was recorded during the 2022 fundraising drive. To see this video click on the button below.

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