Sunday Suppers celebrate 17th year

On the first Sunday of each month, volunteers gather in the afternoon at Saint Lawrence Parish in Brockville to get ready to welcome people from their community into the church hall for a sit down, home cooked meal. They are those who could be from any community across Eastern Ontario—those who struggle with food insecurity, a growing problem that has only increased since the pandemic.  A significant issue in Brockville, recent data suggest that 15.5% of households struggle to access or afford nutritious food.

On February 2 the parish recently celebrated their 17^th year of providing Sunday dinners in partnership with three other local churches: Wall Street United Church, First Presbyterian and Brockville Wesleyan Church. Parishioner John Groves, who is the chair of the outreach committee at Saint Lawrence Church, knows too well the challenges faced by many in the local community.

While there are free or low-cost food programs offered during the week in Brockville, John recognized that a gap existed on weekends. These four churches agreed to each take a Sunday in providing a free meal to the community. “I volunteered us for that because I thought that was where the need was greatest and I knew our parishioners would pitch in and help” says John.

Sure enough, parishioners stepped up with offering not only volunteer help but also financial support to the program. On this particular Sunday night 15 volunteers have shown up to prepare and serve the dinner.

Wishing to avoid the stigma of appearing as a ‘soup kitchen’ with people having to line up, John and his volunteers instead offer a sit-down meal where the clients are served by volunteers acting as waiters. “Some of them have had hardscrabble lives and have not been treated very well” says John. “We bring the food to them and its part of treating people with respect. That’s part of our philosophy.”

The need is growing and the volunteers now serve upwards of 200 meals on a given Sunday. Many of those who show up have mental health issues, physical disabilities, are homeless or are unemployed and trying to get their lives together again. Volunteer Rob Wright says, “We are seeing a lot more kids coming out now as well.”

Rob has been helping out with the Sunday Suppers for eight years now and explains that without a large volunteer group, none of this could happen. “It’s amazing the amount of time that’s required, people don’t realize, they only see the two-hour window where we are serving meals. There’s at least a dozen to fifteen people behind the scenes making it happen. We start very early in the morning just to get to this two-hour window” says Rob.

For Rob, the Suppers are a chance to not only help those less fortunate and give back to his community, but he also enjoys the social time the volunteers spend together preparing and serving the meals. “We are like a family” says Rob. “It makes you feel good by volunteering. It’s a lot of work but it has a lot of rewards.”

The Sunday Suppers are truly a labour of love for John and his volunteers. He wishes sometimes that the dinners could be held in the church because there is a stained glass window that depicts Jesus and Simon Peter when Jesus asks him: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” John says “this window is our inspiration…it’s where we get our instructions, to feed Jesus’ lambs. I wish the need wasn’t there…but it’s there.”