Florida Catholic | Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

Guess who’s coming to dinner

St. Lucie Community Kitchen volunteers had no idea how many guest to prepare for when they opened the doors for their first meal.

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PALM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 02.22.08

LINDA REEVES | FC
Volunteer Al Goodwin organizes grocery bags to be distributed to clients through St. Lucie Parish’s new food ministry. “We are helping people, but we are also building community within the parish.”

PORT ST. LUCIE | It was a recipe for anxiety: Ministers at St. Lucie Parish invited every neighbor in need to dinner for the first time and didn’t know how many, if any, guests to expect.

“We have six gallons of tomato sauce and 40 pounds of spaghetti,” Richard Lemquist said shortly after breakfast Feb. 7, as he tied an apron to his waist, pulled out a giant aluminum pot and long-handled spoon and started to cook the first meal to be served at St. Lucie Community Kitchen. “It is a trial-and-error thing. We don’t know how many people will show up.”

Invitations were delivered and posted in January and the first week of February. Members of the faith community and surrounding neighborhoods were invited and asked to spread the word.

“Every Thursday, we will have a soup kitchen,” said Loretta Barnes, family and youth minister at St. Lucie, who spearheaded and coordinated the venture. “Our mission statement is ‘without passing judgment and in the spirit of love and hospitality, St. Lucie’s Community Kitchen will feed the hungry of the community.’ We have given out flyers to all the churches in town. They tell me we will be slow in the beginning until word-of-mouth gets out rather than just the flyers.”

Dinner guests were missing when the doors to the parish hall opened at 4 p.m. revealing folding tables carefully decorated with bright tablecloths, napkins and centerpieces. However, hopeful volunteers came out in full force well before the dinner bell rang, eager to start the new ministry, which is aimed at helping financially struggling families and individuals.

“I have a total of over 120 people who are going to help, and calls come in on a daily basis,” said Barnes.

Parishioner Al Goodwin showed up at 7:30 a.m., and began helping set up tables and chairs.

“We had about 10 people early this morning,” said Goodwin.

Volunteers worked in shifts during the day unloading bags of food, organizing the kitchen and cooking.

“At 2 p.m., we had eight volunteers. There are some people working in the kitchen now,” Goodwin said.

The ministry is made possible through donated food, placed by parishioners into two large baskets near the entrance of the church. Several local businesses and food giants, such as Publix and Albertson’s, are contributing bread items, fresh vegetables, and boxed and canned products.

Joe McNally saw a bulletin announcement advertising the new ministry one Sunday at Mass.

“I read that they needed help, so that is why I am here today,” he said while slicing a long loaf of bread. “I wanted to help.”

Lorraine Olesky worked side-by-side with McNally, bagging freshly cut bread and marking the sacks with a black pen.

“I have been at this parish since 1983. I wanted to do something to give back because God is good to me. He has been so good to me.”

Barbara Squadrito, a former nurse, offered to greet people as they entered the parish hall. She organized a tall stack of nametags, which would be numbered to allow organizers to track how many visitors participate.

In addition to a hot meal, guests are invited to take home a bag of groceries.

“I think people will come and I am looking forward to this new venture,” said a hopeful Squadrito about an hour after ministry doors opened. “We don’t know how many to expect, but you have to start some place. As the people spread the word, I am sure there will be more people.”

Another hour went by and still no one showed.

The teamwork of the long day gave volunteers an opportunity to talk and get to know one another a little better.

Squadrito met Pat Lemquist, Richard’s wife.

The two women soon learned that both had worked in health care. As they waited for dinner guests to arrive, they shared stories, testimonies and feelings about their love for helping people. Then discussions moved to children and church.

By 6:30 p.m., the patient volunteers began getting hungry. The men decided it was time to eat. Plates of Richard Lemquist’s spaghetti with thick sauce and spices along with salad and bread were served.

Just as some of the volunteers finished saying prayers of thanksgiving for the feast at hand, the doors of the hall opened.

“I said, ‘Oh boy,’” Goodwin said.

Two women in their early 20s, one toting a carrier with an infant, walked in. They had heard of the free meal program.

Squadrito greeted the shy mother, who spoke Spanish. The greeter filled out a nametag and placed a big No. 1 on it.

The mother looked around, and her big eyes were met with smiles and nods. One of the volunteers invited her to sit at a table. Her friend gazed around and took a nametag. Then, she said something in Spanish to the mother and walked outside. Goodwin watched out a window as the young woman made a call on a cell phone.

“She checked everything out and called some friends,” said Goodwin. “Then, the next thing we knew, about 20 people were here.”

The visitors were of all ages, including a dozen children. Volunteers served the guests full plates and chatted with them, though they spoke little English.

Goodwin and Richard Lemquist searched the kitchen for a jar of baby food and, by chance, found a big one for the infant.

Volunteers talked to the children, and Lemquist, who could pass for a New York Giants lineman, ended up holding and talking to the infant.

“I think 20 is good for a start,” said Goodwin. “It was really great. We are helping people, but we are also building community within the parish.”

When asked the menu for next week, Lemquist was quick to respond.

“It’s meatloaf,” said the cook with Irish and Swedish roots. “I am not going to tell you what I put in it, but everyone loves my meatloaf.”

The ministers ask parishioners of the diocese to spread the word about the new community kitchen. For more information, call the parish at 772-878-1215.

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