World Photo by Lou Sennick Marianne Catlett, left, and Donna Strawn wait for the residents of T.H.E. House to arrive for dinner. The two women have been volunteering at the shelter for the past couple of years on Wednesdays, bringing a homemade cake or other dessert treats to go with the meal.

COOS BAY — There were pork spare ribs in the oven. Green beans, carrots and peas on the stove. And someone brought punch and fruit to share with his fellow guests.

But it wouldn’t have been Wednesday at T.H.E. House without the cake. Or, for that matter, the Cake Ladies.

Marianne Catlett and Donna Strawn have gone by that moniker since they started volunteering at the homeless shelter two years ago.

“She loves to bake and I love to eat,” said Catlett, as Strawn cut up generous slices of her homemade triple chocolate cake.

The Coos Bay neighbors decided to start serving after learning about the need for volunteers at T.H.E. House and have hardly missed their weekly duty since.

“I like feeling like we are helping,” Strawn said.

The two women don’t have to cook the meal; that falls to shelter director Eve Stevens. They serve it. That is just the start of their duties, though.

Once meals are finished, Catlett and Strawn grab plates of their own and join that evening’s guests.

Sometimes they chat, or watch a movie.

Other times they help the guests, who are mostly men, prepare for life after the shelter.

They read their résumés, talk about how to dress for an interview and give tips on job openings if they hear of any.

Catlett said it is always nice to see the guests at the shelter find jobs and get places of her own.

“There are a lot of success stories,” she said. “They are not afraid to go to work.”

Of course not everyone is a model resident. Stevens said guests are expected to be clean and sober, and will be asked to leave if they come to the shelter with even the smell of alcohol on their breath. And all the doors and windows set off an alarm if someone tries to leave during the night.

Strawn said her husband was worried at first when she said she was going to volunteer at T.H.E., but he has become very supportive.

“He knows this is really important to me,” she said.

And the women say the shelter guests are very considerate to their servers.

“If someone starts talking rough, the others invariably say, ‘Hey. There are ladies present,’” Strawn said. “They are very protective of us.”

And Stevens is very protective of her volunteers. Sometimes the volunteers do too much, she said, going out to buy food when something is missing or getting extra socks when guests are wearing tattered ones. That has been the case recently as donations have dried up. The T.H.E. House budget has gone from $120,000 to $90,000 while demand is only slightly down from previous years.

About two months ago, the shelter was almost out of meat.

“We were making a lot of casseroles and soups,” Stevens said.

Food donations have picked up during the holidays, she said, though a lack of cash donations has meant volunteers are buying garbage bags and razors.

“When we have less money, that means our volunteers have to donate again,” Stevens said. “It shouldn’t be that way.”

Catlett and Strawn don’t necessarily agree, saying they are happy to make sure their guests get all their needs met. So they make sure to swing by the store to grab some extra loaves of bread. And they can’t come without bringing dessert.

“We don’t ever send anyone away hungry,” said Strawn.

Sometimes the shelter guests buy something for the communal meal, like they did Wednesday.

“They feel really good about it when they can contribute,” Catlett said. “And we supplement because we know what’s missing.”

Strawn is planning to knit some warm garments for the guests.

“We’ve gotten pretty attached to a lot of them,” Catlett said. “It’s like we are dorm mothers in college.”

The two women feel right at home at T.H.E. House, which is why they will be serving meals at the shelter on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

“Of course we’ll be here,” said Catlett. “This is where our heart is.”