CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — While some people in downtown Charlottesville may arrive at the office with a briefcase, Steve McVey arrives with two coolers. And when others are enjoying their lunch on the mall or in the office, Steve spends his time outside in the heat, giving bottles of cold water to the homeless standing in line at the soup kitchen.
McVey and his wife, Debbie, are members of Broadus Memorial Baptist Church in Charlottesville. They started what he refers to as the “water ministry” six years ago.
Steve and Debbie McVey with a truck loaded with clothes and supplies for the homeless in the Charlottesville area.
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Five churches in Charlottesville provide meals for the homeless, rotating each day of the week. McVey would frequently pass and notice those standing in line with faces turned red from the heat while waiting to get inside.
He thought something should be done–and felt God leading him to be the one to do it.
Last summer Steve gave away more than 2,300 bottles of cold water. Each evening at home he loads 100 bottles of water in two coolers with ice. The next morning it is drained, re-iced and loaded on his truck. When lunch comes he heads to the soup kitchen feeding that day and and talked with those waiting in line, offering them bottles of cold water, free of charge.
For the first two years the expense for the water ministry came from the McVey’s pockets. But as word spread, others asked to be involved. Several Sunday school classes at Broadus Memorial Baptist Church now support the ministry by stockpiling water at the church.
McVey will usually load 20 cases of water at a time to keep at home for when he needs it. Some people make monetary donations or have given gift cards at a local stores for him to purchase the water and ice.
McVey says for six years now he has seen some of the same people on a daily basis. He says it’s an opportunity to spread the gospel and share his beliefs. He tells people that what he’s doing is what Jesus would do.
“I want to make sure that they can see I am trying to live out what I believe,” he says.
After passing out the 100 bottles of water he’s brought, McVey loads the empty coolers in the truck and heads back to his job. If he’s taken a few minutes beyond his alloted time, it’s not a problem. His employer is aware of the water ministry and supports him with an extra few minutes if he needs it now and then.
“I don’t do it to feel good, I do it because it’s needed,” he explained. “These people need someone to be an advocate for them and provide them with the basic necessities of life that maybe they don’t have another way of receiving.”
During the year the McVeys will load the truck with clothes, sleeping bags, blankets and items donated by those in the church and community and travel to the different sites where the homeless gather and distribute them.
“It’s just what Jesus would do,” says Steve.
Barbara Francis is a staff writer at the Religious Herald.