| Serving the community – a good meal |
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| Wednesday, 23 September 2009 | |||
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Staff writer The tables were set and the aroma of cooking meatballs filled the room with mouth-watering anticipation.
“We are not sure how many are coming,” said Sarah Perkins, Life Community Meal coordinator, Sept. 15. Sept. 15 was the first meal for the ministry’s free meal service. There was no need to worry no guests would come. More than 70 people sat down for the family style meal. “It was great. The vibe was great,” said Perkins. The night had a friendly, family atmosphere the committee was hoping for, she said. The diners enjoyed an old-fashioned sit-down family dinner, Perkins said. With one good meal under their belts, Life Community Meals organizers plan on serving each Tuesday from 6 to 7 p.m. in the church’s community room, located at 14501 Nowthen Blvd. N.W., Ramsey. The meal was a year in the making.
“The mission is to transform lives through Christ and our community,” Perkins said. And there are a lot of hungry people throughout Anoka County, she said. Perkins was overwhelmed by the response from her fellow parishioners when she sent out the call for people to head up the ministry. “I was flooded with responses,” she said. It didn’t take much to get a lot of great people involved, Perkins said. In a matter of months, the 10-member committee and its 25-35 volunteers were ready cook and serve a meal of meat, potatoes, salad and bread. In the future, the meal may feature a potato bar, a taco night, baked chicken as well as spaghetti and meatballs. While the meal does not have a vegetarian option, they do serve peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a meatless option or for the finicky eaters, Perkins said. Each table was hosted by a volunteer who kept the conversation going and got things from the kitchen. At the end of the meal, no bill was presented. There is no cost to the diners, Perkins. It’s free to anyone in need of a meal. They don’t have to be a member of the church or the Ramsey community, she said. Although the meal is at a church, there is no preaching, Perkins said. They have one mission – to feed people in need, she said. The only request the volunteers have of the diners to fill out an information card. Because they plan on using Second Harvest for the groceries, the committee needs to prove 51 percent of the diners are below the poverty level, Perkins said. Using Second Harvest makes the meals more affordable for the church and allows the volunteers to serve more people, she said. Tammy Sakry is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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