But no matter the approach, visitors to the front door of the building next door to the Cathedral of the Madeleine, 331 E. South Temple come for one reason. They are hungry and caught short on funds. Food delivered in the brown paper sack through the small window adjacent to the door could be their only substantive meal for that day.

"We don't ask questions," said Mark Wondergem, a volunteer with the program for the past seven years. The meal sponsored under the umbrella Cathedral of the Madeleine Good Samaritan program provides food to whoever comes to the door between the hours of 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., seven days a week, including holidays.

Last year, the 365 days of diligence added up to 107,000 sacks of food, or if you do the math, nearly 300 bags of individually wrapped sandwiches, chips and cookies handed out the window each day. Some times of the year the window is busier than others, particularly in August and September when there are generally more people traveling through Utah. The knocks on the door and the bell slow down slightly - but only slightly - during the colder months of January and February.

No matter the time of year, however, single men comprise the majority of the visitors, about 80 percent on any given day. Some are regular guests, while others cautiously tell volunteers about falling onto hard times and in between jobs, cars or places to stay. Women and couples with children come to the door, too.

Volunteers are trained to give little more than a meal and a greeting unless asked or if they notice some extra help may be needed. On a cold day in January, for example, a volunteer used her discretion to hand a winter hat to a small boy who had climbed the stairs while hanging on to his mother's hand.

For others, it might be an extra sandwich, if they ask, a voucher for clothing available from the Crossroads Urban Center, an item of clothing on hand, a cup of hot chocolate, or a small bag of hygiene products that fits easily into a large coat pocket or a backpack. Referrals to other agencies, such as the Fourth Street Clinic for medical and dental services, are also available.

"The volunteers use their judgment," Wondergem said. "Sometimes, it's obvious what else someone might need."

On a wall inside the door is the secret to the Good Samaritan program - a roster of names scheduled to take the window or to work in the kitchen putting the sacks together.

It's an amazing feat of engineering and recruiting all done in the quiet of the multi-purpose building used for cathedral administration and housing. Wondergem coordinates donations and purchasing for the Good Samaritan program and relies on other equally stalwart volunteers to train, staff and pack.

Downstairs in the kitchen on this particular day are parishioners Clara and Paul Brennan, who have donated about 3,000 hours to the meal program during the past decade. They started as sandwich makers and packers and did the job so well and for so long, they now coordinate program's Tuesday morning training classes.

Lloyd McCusker, of St. Ann's Catholic Parish, has voluntarily sliced cheese for the past five years on the same morning each week as the Brennans "because it's a program I read about and decided I wanted to do."

The volunteers, which number into the hundreds, come from across the valley, just like the donations of cheese, lunch meat, bread, chips, cookies, cereal, and more perishable foods like the occasional apple, yogurt, and fresh orange juice.

Wondergem picks up a large part of his supply each Monday from the Utah food bank. Then, there are donations delivered or picked up from bakeries, the LDS Church and grocery stores. The Silvio and Ann Fassio Family Fund created in 2003 through the Catholic Foundation of Utah provides money for general operations.

Volunteers come through word of mouth, notices placed in parish bulletins and the Diocesan newspaper, or to satisfy an order to give community service. Not everyone is a member of the Catholic Diocese. In fact, it's not unusual to find a line of LDS missionaries spreading mayonnaise on bread slices alongside retirees such as Hank and Sandra Raucci, of St. Ambrose Church. Wondergem, who devotes 15 to 20 hours a week, attends a Lutheran Church.

This is all very nondenominational, the volunteers said.

"Very few know about what we do but it's not the recognition we're after," said Clara Brennan. "We leave feeling a great sense of accomplishment."

The Rev. Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, former cathedral rector and now pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, started the Good Samaritan program about 22 years ago. The daily meals that were a first step in the full Cathedral of the Madeleine Good Samaritan Program are served from the same door from where the service started.