By Kaitlin Candelaria
When Daniel Cason and his wife, Gwen, set out to start their ministry 20 years ago, they were focused on glorifying God through their love of music.
Cason grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and said he began taking piano lessons at nine years old for 50 cents per lesson as part of an inner city outreach program. It was that experience that inspired him to cater to children in the Birmingham community.
What began as piano lessons has grown into a ministry that touches thousands of people each year and feeds both the body and the soul.
“It started really small,” Cason said. “We started with a Thanksgiving dinner with maybe 700 or 1,000 people and someone said, ‘Why don’t you talk to the mayor of Birmingham and see if you can get the Boutwell?’ and now we’re in the Bill Harris Arena.”
The Daniel Cason Ministries’ Thanksgiving dinner program, called “I Cared Enough,” feeds more than 10,000 people each year while also teaching people about God.
“Our mission is to reach the five H’s – the hurting, the helpless, the hungry, the homeless and the hopeless – with the love and compassion of our savior,” Cason said. “These people come from everywhere. Some of them want to give up. We’re living in some very trying and evil times and this is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people.”
Cason, who also serves as a pianist for Brairwood Presbyterian Church, works with churches and organizations all over town to gather food leading up to the sit-down dinner, which takes place the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. One such organization is Briarwood Christian School, which hosts a food drive each year to support the cause.
“Most of these kids have everything but the kids I work with in the inner city have nothing,” Cason said. “They’re having the opportunity to touch people they may never see, but it’s so important. You can’t help everybody, but you can do something and these kids are helping to make a difference. “
Cason said that, while the focus for his ministry originally was music, the needs he saw in the Birmingham community were too great to ignore.
“My favorite part of this is the children I teach music to – that was the original ministry,” Cason said. “But what good is music to these kids who don’t have something to eat or shoes on their feet?”
At the annual dinner, not only can people enjoy a hot meal, but Cason gathers enough donations so that each family can take home groceries afterward. He’s also expanded the dinner to include basic but essential things such as haircuts, clothes, school supplies and medical screenings. Representatives from nonprofits also will be on hand this year to assist people with things such as health insurance, housing and utilities.
Cason said his ultimate goal is to have a soup kitchen to feed the hungry and the homeless of downtown Birmingham every day instead of just during Thanksgiving. In the past, he was able to run one but said it shut down due to lack of funding. That, along with finding committed volunteers, are the biggest challenges to his ministry, he said.
“A lot of times people think that these people want a handout, and I used to think the same thing,” Cason said. “But a lot of these are people who work every day and still can’t make it.”
To donate to “I Cared Enough 2015,” you can reach Cason by calling 365-1800 or emailing him at [email protected].
