Free meal offers more than just food

by Frank Lee

operations@thenewsleaders.com

You can enjoy a meal and the company of others at the American Legion Post 328 in downtown St. Joseph and it won’t cost you a penny.

Joe Town Table is an annual community meal series that kicks off Sunday, Jan. 22, and it is intended to help those in need as well as provide a setting where residents can enjoy fellowship with one another.

“Joe Town Table started out of a conversation that the Central Minnesota Catholic Worker had started,” said Molly Weyrens, a core-group member of the faith-based, non-profit organization that was started in St. Joseph about seven years ago.

The Catholic Worker movement was founded in 1933 during the Great Depression by Dorothy Day, and “is best known for houses of hospitality located in run-down sections of many cities, though a number of Catholic Worker centers exist in rural areas,” according to Jim Forest, a former managing editor of The Catholic Worker.

“We had a house for awhile in St. Joseph, and we were going to host some folks in transitional housing, but circumstances changed, so we don’t have the house anymore,” Weyrens said. “But we continue to offer hospitality and outreach to people.”

The Central Minnesota Catholic Worker holds meetings to address the three pillars of prayer/Liturgy, clarification of thought around social justice issues of the day and hospitality in new ways, Weyrens said.

The fourth annual Joe Town Table is made possible by the involvement of local churches like St. Joseph Catholic Church, Gateway, St. Benedict’s Monastery and Resurrection Lutheran Church.

“We have volunteer cooks who come in each month to prepare the meal, and we really try to make it a healthy choice with local foods,” Weyrens said. “We try to support local as much as we can.”

The Jan. 22 meal will feature a menu of chili, cornbread, salad, dessert, coffee and other beverages, with a vegetarian option for those who choose not to eat meat.

“I think it’s just been such a great way to build community among the churches and also just provide some support for those who are struggling, and it’s lent itself to just building relationships that help with continued outreach, which has been really great,” she said.

There is a partnership with the College of St. Benedict and its community kitchen program, so several college students volunteer with prepping the monthly meals, serving and cleaning up, along with community residents.

“The Catholic Worker and the churches help to finance the meals, but we’ve also been doing outreach to various businesses in town as well as some grants that we’ve gotten from organizations that helped us finance the meals,” Weyrens said.

American Door Works, Scenic Specialties Landscape Co., Pam’s Auto, Stearns Electric, Kluesner Financial, St. Benedict’s Monastery and CentraCare Health are among the Central Minnesota businesses that help make Joe Town Table possible, Weyrens said.

“Not only is it for people who are needing a meal in terms of struggling with food insecurity, but also a lot of people from the churches come over, and we’re actually getting a pretty large-size senior community that’s coming over just because they want to be with people and have people to talk to,” she said.

Joe Town Table meals will be held from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the American Legion at the corner of West Minnesota Street and 1st Avenue NW starting Jan. 22 and continuing Feb. 26, March 26, April 23 and May 28.

“Since the get-go, we’ve also tried to figure out how can we also be kind of a resource for people, so at certain times we might have information about Tri-CAP or energy assistance or what’s going on with the county in terms of some programming, so when people come to the meals they can get some of that information as well,” she said.