Loaves and Fishes ... a long-standing justice program at St. Joan's.

August 20th found about 35 volunteers gathering to talk about the experience of serving food to hungry people in the metro area, and to discover expanded opportunities in this ministry.

Loaves and Fishes staff, JoAnn Mehr and Barbara Mishler flank SJA coordinator Julie Madden.

Joining us to present the information were Barbara Mishler and JoAnn Mehr, staff members of Loaves and Fishes. Their enthusiasm for this program, their genuine dedication to its success, and the delight they take in interacting with all of the people involved was downright contagious! The volunteers present also shared their very positive involvement with the effort.

Loaves and Fishes started in 1982 as an emergency food service, and maintains its central office at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1917 Logan Av.S. in Minneapolis. Some 2000 meals are served per night, at seven sites. Each site has a coordinator, who recruits helpers from the guests. Meals are prepared and served by teams from congregations , community groups, and businesses. Many of these teams participate in raising funds for the food they serve, and the particular arrangement for St.Joan's is that TRUST buys the food, and gets it to the appropriate site. Volunteers from the 17 churches of TRUST then prepare and serve the meal.

Loaves and Fishes volunteers sharing a snack.

St. Joan of Arc’s assigned day is every other fourth Monday of the month, and our site is St. Stephens School. Volunteers arrive about 2 p.m. to cook and prepare. Serving begins promptly at 5:30 p.m., and lasts about an hour. During that time, volunteers are serving meals, filling coffee and milk, meeting the guests, replenishing the service items, removing and soaking the empty containers, and generally trying to be useful! Seconds are given as long as the supply lasts, and then clean up begins in earnest. Serving is usually completed by 6:30, then pans are scrubbed and dishwashers filled, floors are mopped, counters and cutting boards cleaned, supplies put in their appropriate places, and we're ready for tomorrow!

Several new service sites are being added, including "Cook for Kids" at the Crisis Nursery in our neighborhood (It used to be Regina High School.). To volunteer to help at this or any of the sites, contact Julie Madden at St. Joan's. She'll direct you.

Much of the food served at Loaves and Fishes comes from Second Harvest Food Bank. The cost to serve each person varies from $.32 to $1.25, depending on menu and availability of appropriate foods.

Loaves and Fishes volunteering makes a great mother/son, whole family volunteering activity.

It is amazing to see the genuine respect among the various participants, and to feel the warm gratitude of the guests. Many have put in a full day of work, but need to stretch budgets as rents skyrocket, but incomes don't. The unseen benefits - having a safe place to share a meal, the congenial company, the opportunity to contribute to cleaning up, the sense of working together to address a need- are precious to all who participate. You're invited to join this special ministry of distributive justice!

An additional incentive to join besides only having rare meetings is that Cathy Meyer feeds all hungry participants - and you KNOW what a bennie that is!

Jean Jachman is a consummate volunteer. Jean pitches in at the parish office, waits tables at Cabaret, and contacts and schedules the readers for masses. All that and a career as a nurse that included time in a refugee camp on the Thailand-Cambodia border.

Janice LaMere is a self-professed (and sometimes publicly acknowledged) girl-geek. She does computer technical support and training, and is a writer, college student, mother of three and grandmother of two. She likes to read, learn, listen to music, walk with her dog (Lady Isabella Augusta, AKA Auggie Doggie) and watch old movies. She can be found on the Internet atwww.janissima.com, or email to lamere@janissima.com.