"I'm Feeding the World Tonight": The Impact of Moral Identity Standards on Mobile Loaves and Fishes Homeless Outreach Ministry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine what factors motivate volunteers who work at a religiously affiliated homeless outreach organization in Texas. Specifically, the research examines the extent to which Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ (MLF) framework influences volunteers’ decisions to participate in the organization’s mobile food distribution program. Analysis of three different qualitative data sources collected in fall 2012, including organizational materials, semi-structured interviews, and ethnographic field notes, suggests that MLF’s use of framing conveys a moral identity that encourages volunteers to continue their participation in homeless outreach. This paper adds to the existing social movement literature on faith-based community development organizations (FBCDOs) by examining how religious ideology is used in tandem with elaborated framing and condensing symbols to reflect moral identity standards which induce people to volunteer.