It is such a joy to be in the kitchen and listen to the happy chatter and laughter of dozens of young people having a meal and enjoying time together!
Ascension Lutheran Church in Nelson is a four-minute walk from Selkirk College, Silver King Campus. A small group of Ascension members decided it was time to offer regular outreach to the students on this campus. After a bit of planning, in 2023, we decided to offer meals to students. We are now completing our third year of welcoming students and young adults into our building for a regularly scheduled meal.
In the days before planned meals our co-ordinators make an intentional visit to the campus to distribute posters and handbills. We visit with the Welcome Office person as well as engage with some faculty. We’ve learned to visit a little before lunch hour as students are in the cafeteria. (The cook in the cafeteria has often spoken with the co-ordinators and praised the dinner program as greatly needed by students.) In time, the students get to know us, and they certainly know about our meals because our participation grows with each gathering. Our fall start up is a little smaller but we quickly grow to over 60 and sometimes over 80 young people for dinner!
We’ve learned that greeting and being present is the best advertising for the program. Our “sandwich board” sign on the lawn and physical posters are good, too. We also post on Instagram and Facebook (the latter is less effective with young folk) and we have an email and text list to send out reminders.
With the input of students, we’ve developed a pattern of a dinner every other Wednesday in the school session. We also changed our serving time to 5 to 6 p.m. to better fit class schedules. We have two main cooks who alternate responsibility for the meal, and a third cook is now joining the program. In addition to promoting the meal at the campus, cooks organize, shop, prepare food, co-ordinate volunteers and clean up. As our number attending has grown we need a regular assistant to assist with prep, serving and clean up.
On the posters we distribute on campus, we note that “if you would like to help, come an hour early.” As a result, at many dinners there are one or two young people helping with meal prep tasks and this adds such a positive dynamic.
We prepare healthy fresh dinners with plenty of vegetables and a dessert. We also like to offer a bowl of apples “to go.” Our cooks make a generous amount of food and sometimes it is all eaten, but on several of the meal nights when there are leftovers we are able to deliver meals to Ascension members and friends with limited mobility. This is an unexpected and happy bonus to the program!
Ascension has become a safe and welcoming place for young adults to gather. A place of community and laughter. We are moved by the sincere appreciation regularly expressed by so many of the young people. Students who may have no other experience with “church” are welcomed in a friendly space and we are grateful for this opportunity to serve in our community!—Jill Gingrich