Greek Orthodox volunteers feed thousands of Salt Lake's homeless in Operation Brown Bag

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What do 7,000 slices of cheese, 1,000 pounds of ham and 500 loaves of bread add up to?

The answer: 3,500 sack lunches to feed Salt Lake City's homeless.

That's the culinary calculus that scores of Greek Orthodox volunteers employed Saturday to deliver free meals to downtown's downtrodden and area shelters.

Drawing congregants from Holy Trinity Cathedral and Prophet Elias Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake launched Operation Brown Bag to "make a difference — one sack lunch at a time," according to a news release.

The lunches included sandwiches, fruit, cookies and chips.

The Orthodox community feeds nearly 3,000 homeless and needy families every Thanksgiving, but "the homeless and needy are hungry throughout the year," the release stated. So the Parish Council stepped forward with this springtime act of service.

David Noyce