The North Royalton Community Meal is approaching its third birthday. Fr. Edward Estok suggested the meal to The North Royalton Ministers’ Association in late 2013. Discussion and ideas were talked about at the meetings. January 2014 saw the pastors of the various flocks put the finishing touches on the proposal that would see the first Community Meal served on Sunday April 27, 2014.
Once a month the freshly prepared meal is cordially served at St. Albert the Great ‘Lis Family’ Hall for all those who choose to come. Share food, share fellowship, and share the blessings that North Royalton’s Community Meal offers to all. Volunteers from Royal Redeemer Lutheran Church, North Royalton United Methodist, St. Matthew the Evangelist Antiochian Orthodox Church, Abundant Life Community Church, St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church, and St. Albert the Great Roman Catholic Church prepare, greet the guests, serve, and clean up the dishes.
Denise Bobulsky, Service and Volunteer Coordinator, at St. Albert the Great, says that all the meals have had guest input on what to serve. “About a year or so ago, we surveyed our guests as to what would be their meal suggestions, so we base our menus upon that information and what we can acquire from the Greater Cleveland Foodbank. St. Albert is a member agency of the Foodbank and this partnership helps keep our costs down. We have been consistently serving around 200 guests each month, and pride ourselves in the fact that our menus are freshly prepared, from scratch, nutritious meals.”
The community meal has a large following of senior citizens but it is not exclusively for the seniors. “The meal is open to all, and has never been intended to be an exclusive senior citizen meal. The meal is defined as a collaborative effort of the various churches participating in the North Royalton Ministers Association, to provide a monthly hot meal to those citizens in need in our community. Need can be defined as those in need of a hot meal, or those in need of fellowship and companionship. In other words, our guests vary from those who are hungry and in need of food, and those who are in need of companionship.”
The meal is a welcoming, friendly experience, with some folks arriving as early as 1:30 p.m. The actual meal is at 3 p.m., and light appetizers are served at about 2:30 p.m. They may begin with a cup of soup, cheese and crackers or the ever popular deviled eggs.
The Volunteers from the faith communities provide the hands, hearts and smiles for the monthly get-together. Folks who would like to volunteer – no experience necessary – can go online to a website called Sign Up Genius
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0949aaac2daa8-nrcommunity and one for St. Albert the Great http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0949aaac2daa8-satg.
Boblulsky says, “We use two different sign-up pages; one is for the participating churches to use, and the other is for St. Albert parishioners only. Since St. Albert is one of the bigger churches, we wanted to limit how many of our parishioners volunteer so as to give the other smaller congregations an equal opportunity to volunteer.” You can also reach Denise at 440-237-6760.
The next North Royalton Community Meal will be held Sunday, January 29, between 3 and 5 p.m. at St. Albert the Great “Lis Family” Hall, 6667 Wallings Road, North Royalton. There is ample parking with handicap accessibility to the hall. Come for a hot meal and warm smiles.
By LINDA KWARCIANY
Contributing Writer