STANWOOD — The team from St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church arrived early at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church to start cooking a casserole and au gratin potatoes. They put together side dishes of peas, carrots and buttered dinner rolls. There were cookies for dessert.
Seven volunteers worked together on the June 12 meal in the church’s bright, open green kitchen.
Other congregations make spaghetti and cheesy bread or deli sandwiches or soups on their Thursday shifts. There have been taco bars, breakfast for dinner and huge Thanksgiving feasts.
The two things the meals have in common is that they are put together by volunteers from local churches and they are free to anyone in the community who wants to gather and eat.
This month, the Gathering Place is celebrating 10 years in Stanwood. The Gathering Place is a free meal served every Thursday evening in Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church at 27201 99th Ave. NW in downtown Stanwood.
The dinners usually draw between 60 and 85 people.
“Usually the first Thursday of the month is a little low because people still have the food stamps, but there’s a lot by the end of the month,” said Maria Gedstad, who has been volunteering with the Gathering Place since it started. “It’s mostly older people. Some have lost their husbands or wives and come here to visit.”
Ten churches participate in the program, each bringing a group of volunteers once every two months or so.
Patti Hanson, who coordinates the team of cooks from St. Cecilia’s, has seen important lessons come out of the Gathering Place.
One year, her son asked to save some leftovers from a delicious Thanksgiving meal and was told he could make a plate to take home if he helped with the dishes. He and his dad washed them together. Then someone came into the church and asked if there was any food left because a family had arrived late for the meal. They were living in their car and hadn’t eaten dinner.
Hanson’s son handed over his plate.
“It’s a place where all are welcome, children as well as older adults,” Hanson said. “You don’t have to be a person in need. Some who come here are just lonely.”
The cooks usually start their work at the church around 4 p.m. on Thursdays and dinner is served at 5:30. The meal opens with a prayer.
The Gathering Place plans to celebrate its 10-year mark June 16. The Voices of Village is scheduled to perform and Peace Lutheran Church is signed up to cook the meal that day.
It all comes down to the dedication and kindness of the volunteers, said Sue Sather, one of the organizers of the Gathering Place.
“We’re kind of this small community where everyone knows everyone else,” she said.
She opens the church each Thursday. Fellow volunteer Barb Kristoferson is usually the one to close.
Kristoferson hopes to see the Gathering Place continue for another decade.
“It’s a really nice project that somehow has run itself for 10 years,” she said.
People who want to volunteer can ask their church if it is one of the congregations involved or they can email Sue Sather at sp.sather@frontier.com and she can help connect them to one of the churches.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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