In June 2018, Pastors Hal and Lisa Boehm of Summit Church, located in the Elkins Railyard, began a program to provide free meals on the last Tuesday of each month and later teamed up with the Railyard Restaurant next door to incorporate a dining hall into the experience.

Traci Hopkins of Summit Church came up with the idea to provide food, not only to those in need, but to everyone in the community.

“God just laid it on my heart to feed people so I took it to the pastors … we took some time, we prayed about it, and figured out how we’re going to make this work,” Hopkins said in 2019.

The first dinner consisted of tacos, and Summit Church was able to feed 197 people. They managed this task using pop-up tents, with crock pots to keep the food warm.

Volunteer Donnie Barkley sorts through some of the clothing the Summit Church gave away during its Feed the City event this week at the Railyard Restaurant.

Winter came after that and there was fear that the dinners would be canceled due to inclement weather. Traci Hopkins of Summit Church was in a meeting with other members of the church, repeatedly ignoring a phone call, while trying to figure out what to do. Luckily, on the other end of the line was Valerie Braden, one of the owners of The RailYard Restaurant.

“As one of the owners, I realized they had a need because they couldn’t do it in the wintertime outside underneath tents, so I approached them about using our downstairs group room. You don’t realize there was such a need until you start doing it,” Braden said in 2019.

Hopkins said the environment in the room is always warm and familiar. Many people come simply to socialize and interact with members of the church and community.

During the events the church also provides clothing for anyone in need and has interactive activities for children, such as face painting and games.

During the holidays the church provides holiday dinners for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Last year a Feed the City event was held on Thanksgiving Day. Those who attended were served all of the traditional fixings served on the holiday. Take out was also available for those not wanting to stay and free winter clothing was handed out to those in need of warm clothes.

Last year’s Christmas Dinner was offered on Dec. 28, and the church went the extra mile to purchase gifts for the children who come to the dinner.

Each Christmas the church also hosts an annual Holiday Season Event. Last year’s function featured a concert by the Shaffer Band on Sunday. The concert was free, and coffee, tea and hot chocolate were provided. Earlier in the day, the church also offered its annual Christmas play

Starting in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to federal and state recommendations to social distance and an executive order to cease dine-in services, Summit Church had to come up with a new way to serve the community.

The Feed the City events featured tents set up outside in front of the church so free meals could still be distributed safely, even during the pandemic.