Feeding the Hungry
A Hot Noon-time Meal—
Did you know?
30 Million Americans are affected by hunger
One in five children go hungry part of every month
Hunger effects:
o how people perform at work
o how children perform in school
o how people view their communities and their live
More than enough food is wasted each year than is needed to feed all of our nation’s hungry
At the RAM kitchen, we welcome nearly 130 people for lunch each day. We serve elderly and children, men and women, veterans and disabled persons, homeless and at-risk alike. In 2007, we served 42,346 hot lunches, seven days a week. We never close for holidays or weather. For those without home or perhaps with a home but living at or below the poverty level, a hot meal can mean the difference between receiving the nutrients needed to survive and suffering the effects of malnutrition.
RAM House Kitchen Manager, Linda Cannon takes a lot of pride in what she does and takes special care to serve nutritious, well-balanced lunches each day.
We’re fortunate to receive food donations from a number of area businesses. The fruits, vegetables and bread and pastry donations we receive from them help us keep our food buying costs low. We can serve a hot, nutritious lunch for about twenty-five cents!
Food Drives Keep Us Moving!
Holding a food drive for us is especially helpful during the summer months when our pantries become emptier than we’d like. If you are interested in getting your church, workplace or civic group involved by collecting food to help us continue serving hot, nutritious lunches please let us know. You can download our Needs List here.
Of course, we couldn’t serve lunch each day without the help of our many kitchen preparation volunteers. Barbara Farmer has been preparing food in the RAM House kitchen for nine years. After her husband died she knew she needed to do something to help ease the grieving process. A friend suggested she start volunteering. She arrives at RAM around 9 o’clock every Friday morning. Barbara admits that it was the best thing she could have done. “Working at RAM has really helped me and I know in return, I’ve helped others.” It makes her sad to think that so many people in our community are unaware of how many people there are that need a hot meal. While serving the guests lunch she says, “You see a great deal of need in people and I think what we’re doing is a good thing.”
Barbara is a mainstay in the RAM kitchen. She said, “I really enjoy it. My week just isn’t the same if I don’t get to come.” Many kitchen preparation volunteers serve once a week, some serve twice and month and others once a month. Dining room volunteers typically serve once a month. Some groups serve every other month and others serve on holidays or as substitutes.
Fun Fact!
It takes about 50 cans of vegetables to make one side dish for lunch. Normally our lunches consist of a meat, two vegetables, salad, dessert, iced tea or Kool-aid or soup, sandwich, vegetables and fruit for dessert.