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(Submitted by Rev. Eileen Woyen) -- If you are in Albert Lea, MN on a Wednesday night, you should stop by Trinity Lutheran Church and have dinner with friends. Trinity, Albert Lea, has been serving a free meal to their community for over a decade. Trinity’s Free Meal not only feeds the body. It feeds the soul. It is the only meal in the area that invites people to sit down, enjoy a meal, and relax with friends. The meal and fellowship are staples of the community.

You will see old farmers. “Good food and good friends,” said an older gentleman surrounded by a group of his peers. They all agreed. “Plus, we talk about the weather and solve all the world’s problems.”


You will see another table of women. A volunteer helps take a plate to the table. “I’m a widow. I eat a lot of my meals alone. I so enjoy coming to the Wednesday meal so that I can eat with someone.”


A mom shares, “The meal is so helpful to my family. It helps with food cost, but it is also one less meal I have to make myself.” Then the kids and others finish their meal by going to the ever-present ice cream bar.

The Trinity Wednesday Free Meal started as a meal for confirmation students coming from sport practices before class. It has grown to feed the community. Some Wednesdays there are around 30 folks that come to eat. On other Wednesdays there are over 80. The Free Wednesday Meal program is run by a great group of volunteers providing nutritious, yummy meals. “I never knew the need for a program like this in our town until I started volunteering and cooking for these meals. It has certainly opened my eyes, and it has helped me grow in my relationship with God,” shared a volunteer who is faithfully there every Wednesday.

The Wednesday Free Meal is supported through congregational member donations and memorials, Thrivent Action Grants, the Southeastern Minesota Food Ministry Grant, and various food donations from local food pantries, funeral/celebration meals, and groceries.


So, if you are in Albert Lea on a Wednesday, please come share a meal.

 

 

To financially support SEMN Synod Food Ministry grants for local congregations, visit semnsynod.org/givenow (select “Global Partners” and type “Food Ministry” in the memo.