Interview with Dave Stambaugh, Pastoral Associate Hollywood United Methodist Church

Betsy: Dave, what is Mac & Cheesy?

Dave: After the earthquake in Haiti our church wanted to respond and reach out. So the obvious thing to do was to assemble health kits for UMCOR. The congregation wanted to do a fundraiser so we decided to do our version of a “Throwdown! With Bobby Flay.” 

The first “Throwdown,” each person came and donated $5.00 for a good cause, tasted several special recipes for banana pudding, met some new people (fellowship), and assembled roughly 700 health kits for Haiti. It was so successful the church has continued to have “Throwdowns” with Chili for Chile, and Mac & Cheesy for Japan and Alabama.

MM note: A variation of the “Throwdown” has also been planned as an Open House opportunity to help people learn what other ministries are being done in and through Hollywood UMC. The congregation is very active in mission outreach and social justice. Every Tuesday, volunteers distribute over 120 sack lunches to homeless adults who call the streets of Hollywood home. Through Hollywood's involvement in homeless ministries, they’ve felt a calling to work to eliminate the causes of homelessness and meet the need for affordable housing. The church has been a leader in shaping a vision and building support with other faith communities to end homelessness in Los Angeles.

Dave Stambaugh is a certified candidate for ministry as a local pastor. He received his Masters of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary and his Masters of Sacred Theology from Drew University. You can follow the Hollywood United Methodist Church on twitter and facebook. Betsy would also like to say she's still waiting on that chili recipe.