When the two UPS-style trucks pull up to the United Nations Plaza at 8:30 p.m., the pedestrian mall goes from empty to jam packed with volunteers and homeless in a matter of minutes. The Christian City Ministries International trucks are filled with goods and services that needy people in the area are understandably eager to accept. Yes, they have food and lots of good clothes to offer, but so does the charity organization down the street. The people here are looking forward to getting better stuff like bikes, haircuts, foot massages, and of course messages of Jesus.

They’ve got about 50 volunteers working to get everything started. Soon the sound system is set up, and the band is nearly ready to start playing their modern day Jesus worshiping songs. Others are setting up the tables that will soon be covered with meals worthy of your own home, which are being prepared inside one of the trucks. The other truck is just as busy inside as volunteers squirm around the tight space to get the full-featured hair saloon ready. Just outside, the foot massage stations are just about ready, which basically are chairs in front of a water-filled Rubbermaid storage bins and a bottles of lotion. Volunteers give the massages.

But before any of the goods are served, leaders gather everyone around the front of the stage for some singing and praying. You can tell people here are regulars because everyone follows along with the unique CMI songs so well. Pastor Jason Ramos quickly leads the group through positive and touching prayers, and is also the man responsible for the entire operation. In no time, he sends everyone off to dig in to all the great stuff they have for the night.

“These are a bunch of good guys. They treat me like a human,” says Rolando Alfonso, who came to America from Cuba 27 years ago. He says he had a great life – a wife, kids, and a great income – but lost it all to drugs. “They help people like me, a piece of shit, because that’s what I feel like. And they do it for no pay.”

Alfonso comes to the U.N. plaza every night that CMI is around, which usually is every other Friday. He feels that Ramos’ messages and God have inspired him to get his life together, and bring it back to the way it was prior to his drug addictions. He also says waiting in the lines that sometimes go around the block is worth it.

The lines are so long because there is so much being offered. Anthony Dent is one man who takes advantage of almost everything. He starts out in the “worship tent”, where prayers take place on a much smaller intimate scale. Dent says this is where he gained the inspiration to preach to children. From there he goes to get a foot massage, which includes soothing lotion and a fresh pair of socks. “I like it, it feels good,” says Dent. Then he climbs into the salon truck, where he gets his hair washed and cut, and a clean shave. On his way out of the truck, he picks up a hygiene kit, which CMI has prepared. It includes tissue, a toothbrush, soap, lotion, shampoo, deodorant, and a razor. The only thing left for him to hit is the good food, which he indulges himself with.

This is what it’s all about for Pastor Jason Ramos. Growing up in South San Francisco, he went through all the “street stuff” – gang banging, DJing, clubbing, drugs, and just plain running the streets. But he says none of those things filled that void in his life he was always feeling – running City Ministries has.

Ramos says what started out with serving sandwiches and cups of coffee, seven years ago, exploded into the operations we see today. He says now they serve 700 meals a night, stretching out beyond the U.N. plaza, sometimes 60 blocks away. They even go into the worst neighborhoods, like the Tenderloin and Hunters point, sharing food, clothes, services, and of course the word of Jesus. He says everywhere is fair game.

“It’s rewarding,” he says. “Nothing feels better than giving to people that can’t give back.”