Over 260 hungry bellies and friendly faces filled the community space of the Wadena Alliance Church on Tuesday, May 26, as part of a series of community dinners organized by local churches.
Begun in December 2014 with a dinner hosted by St. Ann's Catholic Church, the meals have consistently been hosted by different churches on the last Tuesday of every month since.
"The intention first of all is to feed the hungry," said Sharon Huotari, one of the organizers of the WAC dinner, noting the cooperation of services such as the Wadena Food Shelf and Mahube-Otwa in spreading the word about the dinners.
The dinners also serve a social need, however.
"A lot of people eat by themselves," Huotari said, "and this brings them together."
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Mavis Eiswald, a member of the congregation at WAC in attendance at the dinner, attests to the dinner's social function.
"We each get into our own groups in different churches and this helps break the ice," she said. "Everyone needs fellowship."
The effort to pool resources among churches is one of both fellowship and practicality. Though this month's dinner received donations from both Pizza Ranch and SuperOne, the cost of putting on a dinner can be quite substantial, Huotari said. Rotating through different churches helps to distribute the cost throughout the religious community.
One key message driven home by the organizers is that everyone is welcome to the dinners, regardless of financial bracket or age group. While many of the May dinner attendees were senior citizens, several of the volunteers helping to serve food and clear tables were Wadena youth.
"It's the best thing ever making people's lives better," said Cooper Folkestad, a seventh grade student at Wadena-Deer Creek Schools.
This summer's community dinners will be held on June 30 at St. John's Lutheran Church, July 28 at St. Ann's Catholic Church, and Aug. 25 at the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
