More than a one-time meal in ML

Feed Medical Lake, a charity that serves a free dinner at St. John's Lutheran Church from 5–6 p.m. on the second Monday of every month, continues to go strong after five and a half years.

"There were a couple of people who thought this was going to be a one-time meal, or it would just last a couple of months, but I didn't listen to them," Feed Medical Lake director Joanna Williams said. "It's an amazing thing that we're still going and we've been able to add a second meal."

In October, the program began hosting a monthly lunch meal on the fourth Monday 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Williams views the meals as a way for families to stretch their food budgets, as well as a venue for people to connect with one another.

"We open it up to anyone," Williams said. "You don't have to show proof of income, you just show up."

According to Williams, the charity served 89 meals per month when it first started. It has grown to 125-150 meals per supper. Before the dinner, the charity distributes free groceries.

The genesis for Feed Medical Lake began in 2001 when Williams was in the hospital and doctors found aggressive lymphoma in her leg and told her she only had two weeks to live.

"I told God 'if there's work for me to do, let me live, if not, take me home,'" Williams said. "He let me live."

Seven years later, Williams started seeing "things with the word community written on them." Then she read a public service announcement in the March 10, 2010 issue of the Cheney Free Press about the Feed Cheney program and later met Natalie Tauzin, After attending a couple of Feed Cheney meals, Williams approached the pastor at St. John's about having a free meal at the church.

Williams contacted the health department, completed applications and opened bank accounts for Feed Medical Lake - using her own money.

"They told me it would be six months before we would have our first meal, and we did it in three," Williams said.

The charity's first dinner consisted of soup and sandwiches. However, Williams began receiving donations, including a $500 gift from an anonymous Cheney resident.

Feed Medical Lake partners with Second Harvest, Feed Spokane and Union Gospel Mission for food donations, which allows the volunteer cooks to come up with kinds of recipes for meals. Feed Medical Lake also has themed-dinners during certain months - for example, Cinco de Mayo in May.

"I live in Usk, Wash., but I drive to Medical Lake for the dinner every month," Samantha Cummins, a Feed Medical Lake volunteer, said. Cummins and Aaron Palmer cook full-balanced meals.

"The people enjoy it, some of them say 'oh my gosh, this is the best food I've had in a long time,'" she added.

Williams said she initially went with a restaurant style for the dinner where people would have food served to them. She changed it to a cafeteria style to allow people to select what they want to eat, and as a way to cut food waste. In 2016, it added a "creation station" where children can make crafts while their parents eat or visit. The meals are staffed by volunteers of different ages.

"I've got a roster of about 50 volunteers, they don't come to every meal, but I wouldn't trade any one of them," Williams said.

Feed Medical Lake receives grants to purchase and replace equipment, utensils and dishware. The charity was recently awarded a $1,000 grant from the Washington State Employees Credit Union to purchase modern cooking equipment. The charity also holds two annual fundraisers.

When asked what she thought the future holds for Feed Medical Lake, Williams said "We're just going to keep at it."

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Feed Medical Lake, or to volunteer, contact Joanna Williams at (509) 714-1150 or jojo382@gmail.com. Volunteers who plan to work with food must have their Food Handlers Permit.

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.