St. Michael’s popular twice-monthly Saturday community lunches were victims of the COVID pandemic. The Burrito Love ministry, which provides a burrito lunch on the last Saturday of the month, has filled some of the gap created by the loss of those lunches. St. Michael’s is going to build on the success of the Burrito Love ministry by offering regular sack lunches. 

Initially, the sack lunches will be offered once each week.  As experience is gained with the ministry and, most importantly, as the volunteer base grows, sack lunches will be offered several times a week. To begin with, the sack lunches will include a sandwich, a bottle of water, a napkin, a packet of hand sanitizer, a fruit offering—apple, orange tangerine, etc. — and a cookie or trail mix. Packets of condiments for the sandwich will also be offered. The sack lunches will be offered between noon and 1:00 pm, and we will kick things off on August 4.

Volunteers will be key in making the ministry successful. The plan is to always have two volunteers present during the distribution. The lunches will be prepped a day or two in advance and volunteers will be needed for that as well. In time, there will be a need for volunteers to shop and/or manage the donations. 

This is very much a learn-as-we-go ministry. What is included in the sack lunch probably will change as experience is gained. For that reason, we are not asking for food or material donations; but once we get our feet on the ground, you can expect solicitations will be made like what was done for the pre-COVID Saturday lunches.

The lunches will be passed out in the St. Michael’s courtyard, or from the porch of St. Michael’s house on particularly nasty days. One of the goals for this ministry is to provide an opportunity for St. Michael’s parishioners and our neighbors, both housed and unhoused, to get to know each other a little better.  So, we will set tables up in the courtyard so folks can eat their lunch and enjoy some conversation with us and each other.

Are you moved to volunteer? We hope so! Every effort is being made to make the lunches easy to prepare and distribute. The setup, distribution, tear-down and clean-up will probably take a couple of hours. Meal prep will probably go much faster. It is planned for each team of volunteers to work on the same days and for no more than once or twice a month. Again, this is all dependent on getting enough volunteers, and this is where YOU come in. If you want to volunteer, please let Sheri O’Brien know.

What will we call this ministry? What is your suggestion? If you have an idea for an appropriate name for the ministry, let Sheri know. You may win a free lunch.