by Dennis Dalman
Thanks to generous contributions and lots of volunteers, the “Faith Feeds” program, based in St. Joseph, cooked more than 1,000 Thanksgiving dinners to serve to people in the area on Thanksgiving Day.
The Faith Feeds program began almost three years ago when Ben Prigge of St. Joseph participated in a Bible study program. He asked himself, “What are we doing as a family for Jesus?” After a bit of pondering, he made a decision. He, his wife and three children could cook Easter dinners for families and individuals in need. They cooked 85 dinners. That Easter, in 2020, they and volunteers provided 585 meals.
Prigge has degrees in cooking and technical engineering from St. Cloud Technical College. Elizabeth, his wife, is a chemical-dependency counselor for Nystrom & Associates in Sartell. They have three young children (James, Jaxon, Megan), and the entire family is active in the Solid Rock Family Church in Sartell.
The Faith Feeds program greatly expanded this year because so many people and businesses decided to lend a hand – thus making possible the 1,000-plus dinners. In addition, bags of groceries were given to people dealing with hunger insecurity.
The local radio station, Spirit 92.2, decided to do an on-air fundraising program for Faith Feeds, and listeners donated a total of $4,000. Then the station’s business partners matched that amount, for a total of $8,000. In addition, the station gave another $11,000 to Place of Hope Ministries in St. Cloud.
Other contributions rushed in: donated desserts from Christina’s Cheesecake in Waite Park, nearly 100 loaves of bread from Backwards Bakery in St. Cloud, turkeys and other food items from Sam’s Club of St. Cloud, a huge discount by Penske Truck Rental for a refrigerated truck, and monetary donations from Deerwood Bank (St. Joseph and Sartell), the ECIC Co. and the Braas Co., both in the Twin Cities. There were also many anonymous donations given.
The Catholic Church of St. Joseph opened its large kitchen so volunteers could prepare the many turkey dinners with all the fixings and desserts. The process took two days of prep work. There were two pick-up sites (St. Joseph, Sartell) to receive the dinners, but for shut-ins or people lacking vehicles, the meals were delivered to their doorsteps.
Prigge recalled one moving telephone call he received. A woman asked him what were the criteria to receive a free dinner. He told her the meals are free to anyone who wants one, period. The woman broke down crying and said it would be the first Thanksgiving meal she and her young son will have had in seven years because they had been on the move almost constantly, doing without and barely scraping by.
Prigge said he hopes to make Faith Feeds a nonprofit agency some day.
When asked how he can manage to lead such a complicated effort to feed so many, Prigge said this:
“My amazing wife helps me stay coordinated.”
Then he added with a laugh:
“Oh – and not to forget – my skill and finesse.”
Liz and Ben Prigge work in tandem filling dozens upon dozens of styrofoam containers with mashed potatoes Nov. 23 in the St. Joseph Church kitchen and dining room.
