Lauren Marsh is a Sister of Mercy associate and a chaplain, and back in 2000, she woke up from a vivid dream of a new way to serve her community.
“Part of the vision was that everybody deserves a hot meal without having to prove where they were from or their poverty,” says Marsh. “Too often, when you are poor, marginalized, or vulnerable, you have to go through all these things to prove your need.”
Initially centered in the Presbyterian Church downtown, the Community Meal Center operated on some simple principles and became a 501(c)3 non-profit in 2001. The goal was for community members from all backgrounds to come together and be served a hot meal in a dignified way. They chose restaurant-style service rather than a buffet line to increase camaraderie. While they took advantage of any grants and donations they could to keep the budget tight, no one is ever denied multiple helpings of food at the all-you-can-eat dinners.
After 17 years, the Community Meal Center moved to Zion Lutheran, still in downtown Hamilton, and has been operating there ever since, while also facilitating monthly and bi-weekly meals in other places.
Marsh has seen how giving people a place to feel comfortable and cared for can truly transform their opportunities.
“There was a guest who lived with her grandmother, and she started serving the chocolate desserts because that is what she liked best,” recalls Marsh. “She served with us for 6 years, and at 16, she was able to get her first job, and it was actually in food service.”
The organization is non-religious despite meeting in church buildings; Marsh notes that even those who don’t practice the same religions as the hosting churches experience a need for community and connections.
“When I write thank-you notes to donors, I say ‘Thank you for helping us feed the people of Hamilton who are spiritually and physically hungry,’” she explains. “ When we break bread together, you begin to reduce stigmas and barriers and stereotypes. We are just all people, being together, and it’s amazing.”
The CMC has become an informal hub for other kinds of services: rather than leaving people to find service providers, the CMC invites those providers to come to where the people are already having a meal.
“We have all kinds of people come to share their gifts and talents,” she says. “We have musicians during dinner, nurses who do free HIV and Hepatitis C tests; we’ve had free foot care, free prostate screenings. We have students who come from grade school who bring desserts they baked, or they decorate positive and encouraging placemats.”
Individuals doing service hours for parole or for high school and college programs can help serve; anyone who is interested can either join in the effort as a volunteer or simply attend a meal and be served alongside everyone else who visits.
While the Friday night meal, served at Zion Lutheran at 5 p.m., remains a mainstay of the CMC, they also facilitate a meal served at Power Source Church on the last Monday night of each month, and are piloting a program to deliver carryout meals to homebound individuals on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month through the Pentecostal Mission.
Marsh loves what she does and sees the results every year as she applies for grants to purchase food: in 2018, more than 4000 individuals came to the CMC, and over 19,000 individual meals were served.
“When people serve and have a sense of belonging and purpose, it makes a big difference in their spiritual life and self-worth,” Marsh concludes. “It really is community; we can reduce stigma and barriers when we have one-on-one relationships.”
Want to donate to the Community Meal Center? You can do so through their account at the Hamilton Community Foundation. To volunteer, contact Lauren Marsh at laurensmarsh@gmail.com.