Ecumenical group provides a monthly meal

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish hosted the monthly ecumenical Loaves and Fishes meal in Logan on Feb. 11.

LOGAN — Loaves and Fishes is a meal prepared each month in Logan by an ecumenical group to draw the community to. Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish hosted the community meal Feb. 11.

Cache Community Connections (CCC) hosted the first meal in November 2010. "CCC meets every month with people from a variety of faith communities and civic organizations to focus on community projects," said Cathy Chudoba, a Saint Thomas Aquinas parishioner and CCC representative.

The meal came about when Rachel Von Niederhausern, whose non-profit organization is Global Neighbor, wanted to host a holiday meal for people who receive their food from pantries and offer them a place for friendship. She approached CCC and the dinner was a success. She and Pastor Paul Heins of the First Presbyterian Church, also a CCC member, wanted to continue the meal on a monthly basis. Heins offered his church because it is equipped with a commercial kitchen.

The LDS Bishop’s Storehouse and the Logan Food Pantry donate the food for the meal, as well as community donations. Those who come to eat are a varied lot: people who cannot afford food, who have emotional disabilities and are living in a community home, are lonely, veterans who are having a hard time or those who just want to come and socialize.

Roger has attended the meal three times and brings others with him. He lived on the streets over 30 years ago, but is now sober. "I come to the meal mostly for the fellowshipping," Roger said. "I can come feeling depressed, meet people and leave feeling great."

"One gentleman was a Vietnam veteran who came to the meal because he was lonely," said Chudoba. "He suffers from PTSD and had just lost his job in Salt Lake and moved back to Logan. He feels like he is a burden on his children and it was his birthday. My gift for him that day was to listen to his story, affirm him as a person, wish him happy birthday and give him a hug. He now comes back every month. He knows he is welcome and that nobody is passing judgment on him."

Louise Silver, who works with the Safe Kids Fair in Logan and at a Cache County hostel, came for the first time on Feb. 11 to meet others in the community who might want to work with her on some projects. "I came because I saw the posters and thought it might be fun," she said. "I am semi-retired and I have met a few people here I know from the senior center."

"It’s amazing to see how the community has come together to provide this service," Von Niederhausern said. "We have Catholics, LDS wards, Presbyterians, Buddhists, the B’hais and a team of volunteers from Utah State University. A different group of volunteers oversees the meal each month."

The number of people served has increased steadily, from 50 at the first meal to more than a hundred now, said Von Niederhausern. "Our goal is to have speakers come in to talk about topics on job-seeking and self-improvement skills. It’s so beautiful to see how many different volunteers have come together and also how many different people come to the meal and interact with each other. There are people of all ages, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds who mingle and share ideas. The feeling is warm and there is a spirit of love present. We also deliver to the homebound who receive Meals-On-Wheels because they don’t deliver on Saturdays."

Josiah Johnson, a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and sophomore at Logan High School, volunteers to serve the meal because he likes meeting and helping people.

"I like giving back for all I have," he said. "I encouraged my grandmother, Jenine Hewitt to volunteer."

"Yes, he encouraged me to volunteer and now we do it together," said Hewitt. "We enjoy spending time together as well as helping others."