After a soft launch in February, the group served a ham and potatoes supper this past Monday evening, establishing the first of what is to be a monthly supper on the last Monday of each month at Vincent United Methodist Church in Minot.

“We kind of figured there are so many that are food insecure right now in the community, based on our economy,” said volunteer Becky Nelson. “We picked Monday as a good day to start because if people are food insecure over an entire weekend, they’re going to be hungry on Monday.”

About 70 people were served last Monday. A Head Start employee volunteered to coordinate a children’s activity involving a spring planting for young attendees, and the Rev. Mark Ehrmantraut with Vincent told a story related to the Easter season. Story-telling that shares biblical lessons will continue to be part of the regular gatherings for all who wish to participate.

The meal project grew from work already being done by a group of women at Vincent who had been cooking on Tuesdays for Project BEE’s warming house and the Men’s Winter Refuge. After Ehrmantraut brought up the concept of a community-based meal, Bonnie Oakes with the congregation enlisted her friend, Nelson, to meet with her and the pastor to organize a trial run. Between eight and 10 volunteers prepared a spaghetti meal, nearly half of whom weren’t members of the Vincent congregation.

Renee Hermanson sets out desserts for the community supper served at Vincent United Methodist Church Monday.

“We have had fantastic community support,” Ehrmantraut said of donations toward the meals. In addition to generous community donors, some local restaurants have given of their extra supply. The project received a grant from the Dakotas United Methodist Foundation, and the church is pursuing other grants as well.

Serving Minot through the community meal enables the church to live out its faith and build relationships with its neighbors, Ehrmantraut said.

“At least the Jesus I know, a lot of conversation and authentic ministry happened around the table, where they were just sharing meals and talking about real life,” he said.

Additionally, he said, a free meal is part of the church’s mission to love and care for people, which Vincent has been seeking to do through its outdoor Blessing Boxes that provide free items to those in need and Miracle of Christmas events that offer free food, shopping and gift wrapping. The community partnerships developed through these activities created a base of support now for the community meals.

Nelson said the goal is to see the program grow to add more meals each month. As awareness increases, they stand ready to serve at least 100 people, which is a number commonly seen at Minot’s other soup kitchens, she said.

Minot’s soup kitchens offer midday meals five days a week and two evening meals – every Wednesday and Thursday. The latest kitchen on the meal schedule will be serving again April 29 at 6 p.m. at Vincent, 1024 2nd St. SE.