Lunch with Neighbors
Program served 20,000 meals last year
The Inter-Mountain photos by Edgar Kelley Jim Bell, left, and Jeff Menendez load a car up with meals to be delivered from the Lunch with Neighbors program at the First United Methodist Church of Elkins.
Lunch with Neighbors co-director Diana Johnson, left, and volunteer Jane Wamsley prepare meals during Tuesday’s Lunch with Neighbors at the First United Methodist Church of Elkins.
The Inter-Mountain photos by Edgar Kelley Jim Bell, left, and Jeff Menendez load a car up with meals to be delivered from the Lunch with Neighbors program at the First United Methodist Church of Elkins.
Lunch with Neighbors co-director Diana Johnson, left, and volunteer Jane Wamsley prepare meals during Tuesday’s Lunch with Neighbors at the First United Methodist Church of Elkins.
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ELKINS -- After serving close to 18,000 lunches in 2023, the Lunch with Neighbors program at the First United Methodist Church of Elkins is looking to get a jump start on this year's fundraising with a special event scheduled for Sunday.
To help raise some much-needed funds for the program, which costs close to $40,000 annually to run, Lunch with Neighbors will host a brunch from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
Donations will be accepted during the fundraiser and will feature a custom omelet bar, eggs, potatoes, sausage, bacon, biscuits, gravy, yogurt, fruit and pancakes.
"All of the money we take in on Sunday will benefit the Lunch with Neighbors Program," Program Co-Director Diana Johnson told The Inter-Mountain. "We served a lot of meals last year and this will help us as we head into 2024."
Lunch with Neighbors serves meals each Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the First United Methodist Church's Family Life Center.
The program dished out a total of 17,933 lunches and 1,153 brunches, along with 1,298 special meals during the Mountain State Forest Festival in 2023, for a grand total of 20,384 meals.
Johnson said the program recently got a boost when it received a USDA grant through the Mountaineer Food Bank. With the grant, the program receives an allotment of food every month.
"They (Mountaineer Food Bank) don't know for sure what they will get every month, and we pick up what they have once a month at the Tygart Valley Mall," Johnson said. "We usually get enough that we are able to send some canned foods and meat home with our neighbors."
Johnson credited a group of volunteers who work continuously to make sure the program keeps doing what it does best – helping the less fortunate.
"It takes a lot of people and work to make this program work," said Johnson, who is co-director, alongside her husband Greg.
"We have a great group of volunteers, including two people who are neighbors that we serve regularly through the program. Those two people have specific jobs and it has meant so much to them to come and do this. And that's another neat thing that has happened, we are not just giving food out to people, we are interacting and sharing God's love."
Johnson's list of duties with the program is long and includes such things as ordering food, sorting food, picking up food, and planning meals with head chef Marshall Howser.
"On a regular basis we have around 10 to 12 volunteers, including two chefs, dishwashers and servers," said Johnson. "And people are just blown away with the dishes Marshall prepares for them. He makes everything from scratch and is very dedicated – we couldn't do it without him."