Bride holds bachelorette party at homeless shelter
Not all bachelorette parties are fancy dinners, limo rides and pub crawls. Salvation Army volunteer Christa Christopherson did something different for hers: serve people in need.
Several weeks before her wedding, she gathered her bridesmaids for a Sunday afternoon of preparing meals at The Salvation Army Harbor Light Center in Minneapolis (pictured).
“I came up with the idea with my maid of honor – she did an internship at the free acupuncture clinic inside Harbor Light,” said Christopherson, 36, who got married in Mexico in February.
Christopherson is a regular volunteer at Harbor Light. She gives back because she knows, firsthand, what it feels like to go without.
“I grew up poor – I remember going to food shelves with my mom,” the Grand Rapids native said. “I grew up without a lot and I have a lot now, so I want to give back. I want people to feel loved and cared for.”
Christopherson also volunteers at the West 7th Salvation Army in St. Paul. Every Monday morning, she helps serve hot breakfasts to hundreds of people (pictured).
“It starts my week off right,” she said.
Her path to The Salvation Army started in 2011, when she was volunteering for one of our partners – Loaves and Fishes.
“I was on the (Loaves and Fishes) street team, and we were working outside Harbor Light – I wanted to know what was going on inside,” she said.
Now she volunteers at Harbor Light every Friday. She often recruits others to join, including her friends, family members, and coworkers at HealthPartners.
“Half my coworkers have come with me to Harbor Light,” she said. “People see I’m happy and positive, and they’re always asking, ‘I want to volunteer with you – I want to do what you do.’ It’s infectious.”
The Salvation Army wasn’t the only charity to benefit from the events surrounding Christopherson’s wedding. The day before her bachelorette party, she held a bridal shower and donated all her gifts of clothing to another organization she supports – Dress for Success, which provides free professional attire to women searching for employment.
“I have a passion for helping people,” Christopherson said.