Tonight at our Saturday Community Dinner, which we host every 2nd and 4th Saturday, we served 276 people and handed out clothing and toiletries to more than 150 of our guests. At this time last year we served 153 people. Since no other organization has meal programs on Saturday nights, despite the fact that we don't advertise in the local free eats charts, our numbers have been rising steadily over the last three years.
For these dinners we depend on the generosity of congregations and other organizations. Churches and volunteers donate their gently used clothing and toiletries that they collect from hotels during their travels. The congregation at Old First Presbyterian recently had a sock and undy Sunday in order to help us get more clothing and toiletries for our dinners.The truth is that if we had twice as many donations, there is enough need to give away twice the number of donations.
Tonight I went to the grocery store three times to get more food and supplies so we could feed the additional 100 people who were hungry tonight.
We need your help to serve those who are in need for the rest of the year. All our 2nd Saturday dinners have groups that are bringing the food for our guests, we need individuals and/or organizations who would be willing to help us serve and will either bring food or would like to sponsor the food for our 4th Saturday dinners.
The dinners typically run between $1.50 to $6 a person, depending on the quality of the food and if the dinner hosts cook it themselves or get pre-cooked food.
Contact Megan if you're interested in sponsoring a dinner. From now until January, we will be preparing enough food for 300.
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