Chatham church has been serving free Saturday breakfast for 20 years
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When First Presbyterian Church started its breakfast program 20 years ago, volunteers from the Chatham congregation were initially feeding about 60 people every Saturday morning.
But as many as 175 are now being fed, although the program is now held every other week and breakfast is in the form of a nourishing portable meal.
Still, added up over the past two decades, the numbers are staggering. Volunteers estimate that over 110,000 meals have been served, at a total cost of over roughly $250,000.
Rev. Mike Maroney says the impulse for the congregation’s effort originates in the verse from Matthew’s gospel: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”
“We take what Jesus said seriously,” said Maroney. “Everyone we come into contact with is loved by God and is precious to God. We try at all times to be of help to our neighbours. So we’ve been very thankful that we’ve been able to do this for 20 years.”
The first breakfast meal was served at the church on Oct. 21, 2001. At no cost, people from the community were welcome to come into the church’s dining hall and partake.
“When people saw that it was absolutely free and no strings attached, it just grew,” the pastor said.
“We started to see everything from families with babies, through to teens and young adults, those who are struggling, and senior citizens who just wanted some company. For a lot of reasons, the program grew very quickly.”
Maroney adds: “People are very appreciative. It’s sad that they need this, but it’s a very practical thing we’ve been able to.”
The program’s annual cost has more than doubled. In the first year, the cost for food and supplies was about $7,000, but in 2019 it was $15,000.
The program is funded by the congregation, by community members and by other churches and various agencies.
Maroney notes that the church in the past has been able to secure a grant from the municipality to help defray costs.
Preparing and serving the breakfasts has been a small but dedicated army of volunteers who Maroney says are very efficient in the delivery of the program.
“The volunteers have this down to a science. They know exactly how to do it the most efficiently. And it’s really a very efficient system. Very little food waste. Everyone is served very quickly.”
He credits congregant Bob Fletcher who has overseen the ministry from its inception. There are other volunteers who have been involved from the start and who have been serving throughout the pandemic, the pastor added.
Right now the breakfasts are held every other Saturday but not in a sit-down environment.
“For the time being we cannot offer a sit-down breakfast in our dining hall,” a breakfast program representative states. “Presently we are offering a take-out breakfast every other week. We chose to serve our most portable meal, that being frittata, hashbrowns and apple juice. We continue to serve between 150 and 175 guests on a biweekly basis. Guests are served at an entrance on Fifth Street, and all proper COVID-19 precautions are in effect.”
Maroney said there’s hope the breakfast will be restored to a weekly schedule and one that invites members of the community into the church to sit down and enjoy their meal.
“Certainly we will get it back inside as a sit-down meal when we can,” he said.
The breakfast is sometimes more than about food. Since 2016, the municipality has been sending in an employee to provide counselling and possible assistance for guests.
And once a month a representative from the Chatham-Kent Community Health Care visits to provide health-related information.
First Presbyterian Church is one of Chatham’s oldest congregations, having been organized in 1834. The present church structure was opened in December 1898.
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