Every Thursday from Noon until 1 PM the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Fuller Park serves up hot food for those in need. The last two Thursdays I helped them serve it up.
When I arrived last week I was given quick tour & introduction by Joe Brown. Usually this is done by the head chef, Veronica Barney, but she was running late from another engagement. The Church has a full professional kitchen, with walk in refrigerator, steam serving table and dining room.
When the tour was over I was given an apron, hair net and shown the sink for hand washing. Once I was done they put me right to work.
Joe prepared that day’s meal of sloppy joes, mashed potatoes, salad and dessert. Each table received a pitcher of fruit punch. My first task was to place an open faced bun on each plate. We started with about 3 dozen plates, but served almost 75 people that day. Once the people starting coming in we had an assembly line and I moved to serving the sloppy joe and handed the plate to the person serving mashed potatoes. We had some “special” orders for kids like less meat or smaller bun, but otherwise everyone received the same meal.
When the first wave of people was over I walked out to the cafeteria and noticed that some of the people had been to the food pantry I worked in the previous two weeks. I had an appointment at 2 PM so I had to leave before clean up was done, but promised to come back this week.
This morning I went back to help again and today’s meal was Ms. Barney’s “Grilled Chicken Fiesta”. Basically, it was roasted chicken that was then chopped up, grilled, and then served over a rice, pasta & veggie medley, bread, salad and desserts. Early arrivals also received a painted Easter Egg.
There were over 100 people served today, because many brought their children who are off from school. One elderly man was grateful and wanted to make a donation. Ms. Barney asked him to make his donation during the “Hunger Walk” in June.
Most of the volunteers I met at Fellowship are regulars who have been there for years and recognize the clients. Some arrive very early to start the meal and set up the tables with table covering and chairs. They welcomed me gladly and were very friendly and appreciative for my help.
It’s easy to see that there are many people who need help feeding themselves and their families. It’s nice to know that there are people who are willing to come week in and week out to make sure they get that helping hand.
Nine done and 41 to go!