Newspaper Articles

Neighborhood Table proves it's needed

My View

October 27, 2004

Free meals quickly grow in numbers served and sponsors

By GINNY STEEN  

Sept. 15, 2003 — that is the date The Neighborhood Table had its first organizational meeting. We had no name, no structure, no support, only about a dozen interested people who came together to explore the possibility of a soup kitchen or community meal.

Is this really needed? This is one of the questions asked at that first meeting. A year later when we are feeding in excess of 350 people twice a month, the answer is apparent. Yes, Wisconsin Rapids has people who need a hot meal. As we all know, prices are going up all the time. Gasoline more than $2 a gallon, milk at almost $3 a gallon. Even potatoes, and we live in potato country, are almost $1 per 10 pounds higher than they were last year. It helps stretch a very thin budget that fixed incomes and even food stamps cannot always accommodate.

Whom do we serve at The Neighborhood Table? All kinds of people: young adults, families with children, senior citizens, the homebound. We serve people who live on disability checks, Social Security and pensions, as well as working families who are trying very hard to provide for themselves. All are welcome. We strive to help those who need the meal to help stretch their food-buying dollars and we want to give comfort to those who need our conversation and friendly atmosphere.

So, how are we doing? Based on the numbers we serve and feedback from our patrons, we feel we are making a positive difference in Wisconsin Rapids. Our regular patrons love coming to the meals. We talk to people, laugh and even keep birthday candles for the occasional birthday to gather round and sing, with a candle on a cupcake. It makes the atmosphere very homelike.

We are growing, we have more high chairs, and we are setting more tables making more food. We are trying new things. We find our costs are going up. So we are trying to find more sources for income, more surplus commodities, food from our local food pantry, companies who will donate food. We have to stretch our dollars, too. We had to buy a freezer; we had to buy some Nesco roasters, some large cooking pots. We try to find bargains. We patronize sales.

We have a devoted core group of volunteers. I cannot say enough about these people. Most of them learned about The Neighborhood Table from the great support we received from the Daily Tribune. They read about the meetings and simply came.

These people saw the need and gave of themselves. They cook, wash dishes and take out the trash. They train helpers, scrape plates, set tables, plan meals and tirelessly work to organize and implement our program.

And they love it. They see our work as a ministry: "Blessed are those that feed the hungry" We start and end our board meetings with prayer. We don't preach at our meals, we don't lead our patrons in prayer; but there is a self­less giving that speaks volumes about the wonderful people who come and help. Our "regulars" know us by name. They also donate; some bring a pan of brownies, some give a dollar or two, if they have it. They really appreciate the friendly non-judgmental atmosphere we foster at every meal. It makes people feel good to come and eat at our Neighborhood Table. It makes us feel good to have them come to our table.

We have received our tax-exempt status as a bona fide charitable group from the federal government. We now can approach foundations that can give only to these organizations. So we have another way to raise funds. We receive many donations — from the dollar or two from grateful patrons to sponsoring groups who donate the food and their time, to grants from foundations, to contributions from individuals. Many people see the need in our community and make our job easier by their generosity. We have all our dates scheduled through June. We have people who are clamoring to sponsor a meal. The biggest news is we are seriously exploring a way to add another weekly meal. We have polled our patrons and they say they would come every week if we had a meal every week. We are working hard and saying our prayers that God will show us the way to make this happen.

You can work with us. Call us, come and help. We promise you that the work is hard; it gets a little crazy in the kitchen, especially when there are 42 carry outs to get ready. But it's addicting, it's a great feeling of accomplishment. If you love people, you'll love coming to The Neighborhood Table.

If interested in sponsoring a meal, please contact Monica Hass or Cindy Goldenstern.

Ginny Steen is director of The Neighborhood Table. Free meals are served from 5p.m. to 6:30p.m. the last two Thursdays of the month at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, 320 Oak St., Wisconsin Rapids.