‘A Place At The Table’ To Continue Tradition Of Free Meals
Six months after it was announced that Falmouth’s volunteer meal service Around The Table would not be reopening, St. Barnabas’s Episcopal Church has launched its own iteration of the program, called A Place At The Table.
Around The Table was a volunteer organization that supplied hot meals and camaraderie to anyone in the community who needed it. After more than three decades of providing meals to the needy in the St. Barnabas’s church hall, the COVID pandemic hit Around The Table hard and left the organization scrambling to find volunteers. In September, Around The Table board president Gerry Lynn Galati announced that the organization would be closing for good.
Shortly after this announcement was made, shock and heartbreak reverberated through the community. The Reverend William H. Mebane Jr. felt this and knew that the loss of Around The Table, which he called one of Falmouth’s best-kept secrets, would be huge.
“It didn’t take long for a number of people to approach me and say, ‘We need to do something, we need to try to revive it,’” said Mr. Mebane, rector at St. Barnabas’s. He reached out to those formerly involved at Around The Table, but no one was confident that there would be enough volunteers to sustain the program.
“Being a person of faith, I began to pray about it and hope that somehow, some way, the program might be revived,” Mr. Mebane said.
And revived it soon was. Mr. Mebane was contacted by Sandra (Sandie) Good, a member of the St. Barnabas’s outreach committee; and Bonnie and Tim Valade, members of John Wesley United Methodist Church, who are also involved in cooking meals with the Falmouth Service Center. All expressed interest in getting the volunteer program up and running again.
“I don’t believe in coincidences, given my faith and all,” Mr. Mebane said. “Some people might say the stars are aligning, or I would say the spirit is working.”
Ms. Good has been largely in charge of outreach and getting volunteers for the program.
“I did reach out to all of the churches in the community to spread the word because we’re hoping for it to be a community event to get everybody involved,” she said. “The more people that we can spread the word [to] and the more congregations we can get involved, organizations and people in general, then the bigger we can make it. So that’s the goal.”
A Place At The Table will launch on Tuesday, March 8, at the St. Barnabas’s parish house. Free meals will be available to anyone in need between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Meals will be homemade, with chefs Bonnie and Tim Valade handling the shopping, meal prep and cooking. Entrees will range from favorites like American chop suey to spaghetti and meatballs to special culinary creations from the Valades’ recipe book. Soup or salad will be included, as will dessert and beverages.
During its prime, Around The Table was able to serve meals to the community three times a week. Ms. Good said she would love for A Place At The Table to be just as active, but the ability to do that really depends on donations and volunteers.
“What we’re looking for is volunteers,” Ms. Good said. “We’re hoping to have a few other people there each lunch to greet people, seat them, serve them the coffee, serve them their meal, and then also a few volunteers to help clean up each time.”
Those interested in making a donation or volunteering are encouraged to contact the church office at St. Barnabas’s by either phone or email. Information on how to make a donation is available on the St. Barnabas’s website.
“Certainly there’s a need for it in the community and I’m just thrilled,” Mr. Mebane said. “I could not be more thrilled that we’re going to be able to start our new program.”
The meals are open to the public, so anyone who wants a free meal is welcome to attend.