It is a big room full of joy.
As individuals enter Calvary United Methodist Church in Mount Airy for a free meal, they greet one another happily, smiling and engaging in light banter. They can be an eclectic bunch, coming from different backgrounds, ethnicities and ages, from 95 to 5. Most live in Mount Airy, yet some come from Eldersburg, Damascus, Monrovia and New Market.
And on Thursday nights they all come together as one.
“God’s Kitchen gives people a sense of community, of family, of love,” says Meg Dine, a volunteer.
Started in January of 2011, God’s Kitchen feeds 6,000 individuals a year. “Pretty impressive for a community of 10,000,” says Wayne Evans, a volunteer. The free meal is offered on Thursday nights from 6:30 to 7. And it’s open to everyone. “If you are hungry, come eat,” Dine says.
It is not the traditional soup kitchen in many ways. And while the church is eager to assist those in more dire circumstances, “We don’t have that many people living on the streets,” Evans says.
But there are still needs. And God’s Kitchen is responding to them. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, come eat. If you are the parents of a dual-income family and are exhausted after a day’s work but still need to feed your family, come eat. Or, if you are an elderly individual who lives alone and is looking not only for a good meal but a chance to socialize, come eat.
Many of those attending are just that — senior citizens. They might be able to afford a good meal, but by coming to God’s Kitchen once a week they are not eating alone or “just opening a can of soup or making a sandwich. They are getting a good, hot meal,” Dine says.
The idea of sharing a meal with others was one of the reasons Nancy Staehling was drawn to God’s Kitchen, she says. “It was a way for me to not eat alone.”
At God’s Kitchen she has made friends. So special is God’s Kitchen to Nancy and her new husband Bob that they asked to sponsor a dinner in honor of their betrothal. “We asked them to make lasagna, salad and tomato soup, our favorite meal,” Bob says.
Adds Nancy, “The tables were decorated with balloons, and they had a sheet cake.”
God’s Kitchen is part of the church’s ministry and thus financially supported by it. But there are those like the Staehlings who show their appreciation monetarily.
“One man does it on his birthday,” Evans says of sponsoring a meal that can cost about $300 to $350. Others give in smaller ways, though no less appreciated.
“We have gone from someone slipping a $20 to you to writing a check for $300 and giving it to you,” Evans says.
Based on the reactions of those who enjoy the meals, it’s money well spent.
“It’s always a good meal,” says Stephanie Lang, who attends frequently and was seated at the table with Bob and Nancy Staehling.
On a sweltering hot day in July, the volunteers prepared a “summer plate” menu. The menu consisted of tuna fish salad, carrot salad, macaroni salad and cucumber salad. The cucumbers came by way of local farm market Knills. For the past several years, the family farm has donated fruits and vegetables to God’s Kitchen.
“It’s God’s bountiful harvest,” says Jim Knill, a part-owner of the farm. “We want to share it.”
“They will give us a call and ask what we need,” says Lisa Skelton, another volunteer who is greatly admired by those who attend God’s Kitchen for her soup-making abilities, receiving the nickname of the Soup Lady. “They reach out to us.”
A typical meal besides the summer plate can consist of a main course of lasagna, pulled pork and orange chicken, a favorite among those who attend.
That was what Lynwood Browning was hoping to find on the menu on a recent night. “I like that orange chicken,” he says, grinning ear to ear. A 95-year-old World War II veteran, Browning delights in the camaraderie of the group. “I walk around and say hello to everyone and shake hands and sometimes get kisses and hugs from the ladies,” he says with a gleam in his eye.
That night he brought a thank-you card for the volunteers and planned to have people sign it. “They work so hard,” he says of the volunteers.
God’s Kitchen is run with an efficient system. A core of volunteers, which includes Dine, Skelton and Pat Pelzer, do the weekly shopping, always with an eye towards good bargains and sales. Recipes are then chosen, and the food is prepared and served, then there is the cleanup afterwards.
The attendance usually runs from 120 to 140 people. Not that they don’t sometimes worry that they will run out.
“But we never do,” Pelzer says, smiling. “We say it’s like the story of the fishes and the loaves. God provides.”
Volunteers of all sorts are key to the program. Many take on specific tasks, which can be as varied as the individuals themselves. A grandmother and a granddaughter, for example, come in and set up the chairs. Another woman comes in and does the dishwashing. Another one bakes two delicious cakes each week to be served as dessert. And another family donates the chocolate milk, which is always available for the children.
Some of these volunteers belong to the church. Some don’t.
Other volunteers include young people looking for school service hours or court-ordered individuals who must perform required community service hours.
“They are forced to come, but then they realize how much they enjoy it,” Pelzer says of those who are court ordered. “They tell us that they look forward to coming.”
And on any given night, local organizations such as the Rotary Club volunteer to work the serving line.
“It’s a bonding experience,” says Erica Mason, whose daughters, Ava, 9, and Hannah, 11, not only have volunteered, but that night were eating a meal with their mother. “It brings together the community.”
Something that Lanay Swanson understands all too well. Swanson is there with her two little daughters, London, 7, and Lincoln, 5. She and her children have been coming to God’s Kitchen since her youngest, Lincoln, was just a few months old.
“It’s a break from having to cook every night,” she says. “I have a problem with my foot and have back problems. This gives me a break from having to stand at the stove and cook, as well as the prep and the cleaning up. It gives me a physical break, as well as a mental one. It’s nice to get out and have some adult interaction when you are with children all the time.
“This is a good thing they do."
And it’s eagerly anticipated by both those who come to eat and those who serve them.
“For me this is my Thursday family,” Skelton says. “I look forward to Thursdays to be with my family and serve God and serve my community.”
For more information on God’s Kitchen, visit their website at http://www.calvary-mtairy.org/.