Community Meal
The Community Meal Program is an outreach ministry established in the mid 1980's while the Rev. Bill McCarthy was rector. It was founded to provide a hot, nutritious meal 52 days a year and is served on Sunday afternoons from 2 - 3 p.m. This outreach serves that portion of the surrounding population earning a very low income or living on the street, i.e. folks living on the edge of poverty.
The program is structured around eleven teams of people from a variety of churches in northern Lake County, including a group of very active scouts. The teams have 100% ownership of the meal they prepare. They plan their menu, acquire the food, prepare and serve it and do the clean up chores in the kitchen and dining hall. Leftovers, if any, are prepared for delivery to locations where adults and children are working to get back into society. The meal requirements are a hot entrée, vegetable, salad, bread, fruit, dessert, and a beverage. Parishes unable to fund their Sunday meal are reimbursed by Christ Church.
In the last several years, the number of guests served on any given Sunday has dropped to a range of 70 to 95. When the meal began in the 1980's, it was not uncommon for the guest count to be 100 to 120.
Teams usually arrive about 11:30 a.m. to cook. Teams usually spend 3 ½ to 4 ½ hours from start to finish, depending on the number of guests and how soon they begin the clean up process.
The pictures included on this website show the team from Trinity Episcopal Church, Highland Park, preparing a delicious turkey dinner on their Sunday closest to Thanksgiving. Photos of the dining hall showing the meal in progress are not provided because many of our guests have requested their pictures not be taken.
The Community Meal program is funded through the C.A.R.E. fund at Christ Church. C.A.R.E. is an acronym for Christians Are Responding Everywhere. Outside organizations and individuals knowing of the program contribute funds to financially support the Community Meal Program.