A handful of volunteers in a nondescript church basement have been diligently feeding hundreds of hungry Milwaukee residents twice a week with little fanfare.
As inflation and high grocery bills make it harder to get by, word about the hot meal program at All Saints Catholic Church is spreading among its north-side neighbors. The return from a pandemic pause a few years ago has breathed new life into the program.
“Years ago, a big night would’ve been 70 people,” said Fr. Mike Wolfe, pastor at All Saints. Now, a slow night means they gave out 200 meals. Some nights last summer, neighbors took home close to 400 meals.
Its organizers are humble about the hours they spend at the church, 4051 N. 25th St., cooking balanced meals from food bank donations, sourcing fresh produce from local farmers, and providing people in need the dignity of taking hot food home to their families.
Tim Tarpey, a parishioner at Christ King in Wauwatosa who has been instrumental in expanding the program, doesn’t see himself as some kind of hero. “I don’t know what else I would do on Tuesday afternoon if I didn’t come here,” he said.
But organizers are proud to fill a gap in residents’ nutrition on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“I like to think we’ve grown not because there’s more need, but because we do a great job and we serve a really good meal,” Tarpey said.
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Volunteer Tim Tarpey takes a break from leading a scripture discussion to talk with fellow volunteer Brenda Tucker Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at All Saints Catholic Church, 4051 N. 25th Street in Milwaukee. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Church aims to be a sign of hope for neighbors
At All Saints, most people take their food to go, and only a handful sit down at the round tables in the church basement. But a sizable group does gather around Tarpey in the half-hour before meals are distributed for prayer, scripture readings and reflection.
Wolfe likes that the Bible study is an option for people but notes the point of the program is not to make Catholic converts. The bigger goal, he said, is to be a sign of hope for the neighborhood. Pope Francis has designated 2025 a “jubilee year” with hope as the focus.
“It’s really hard to feel hope if you’re just getting by with bland, cold food,” Wolfe said.
Some of the dinner guests are homeless, but others have homes nearby and struggle with poverty and access to affordable, healthy food. People staying at nearby rehabilitation centers also tend to be regulars.
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One of the neighbors who carried away food on a recent Tuesday was a tax preparer who asked to be identified by her initials, L.M. She treks a half-mile from the library, where she uses the WiFi for her work, every Tuesday and Thursday, no matter the weather. In the bitter cold, she said, there’s no dilly-dallying. The walk is really more of a “trot.”
L.M. heard about the program about seven years ago as she was spending a lot of money buying food. Growing up with several older siblings, she said she never learned how to cook. By taking two meals each night of the program, she can have a hot meal four nights of the week.
“The meals are excellent,” she said. “When I eat a meal that’s cooked, it’s meaningful for me.”
First time volunteers Anastasia Frieseke and Joey Snyder package farm-fresh eggs for patrons Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at All Saints Catholic Church, 4051 N. 25th Street in Milwaukee.
Small crew of volunteers serves hundreds of meals
The program’s cook fashions meals from donations the church receives from a mix of places, including Hunger Task Force and Feeding America. Volunteer Juliet Kersten, a retired Children’s Wisconsin administrator and a parishioner at St. Monica’s in Whitefish Bay, arrived early on that recent Tuesday to peel what seemed like lots — and lots — of potatoes.
The biggest challenge is knowing how much food to make, Kersten said, since the number of guests can fluctuate based on the time of the month and the season. Tuesday’s meal was fish sticks, cheesy potatoes, cooked carrots and multigrain bread. She was dishing food into Styrofoam containers alongside volunteer Terry Ashley, a retired economics professor and an All Saints parishioner.
The operation to distribute typically at least 220 meals gets by with only about eight volunteers, who aren’t just serving food, but washing dishes, wiping down tables and prepping the kitchen for the next day.
Ashley coordinates the volunteers and sees how crucial they are to the program. “This can’t go on without our volunteers,” he said. “They are the ones who get things done in the end.”
Then there’s the organizers’ connections, and the generosity of other parishioners in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. A number of farmers near Beaver Dam regularly contribute produce like sweet potatoes, squash, gourds and tomatoes. This Tuesday, dozens of shiny brown eggs in cartons awaited new homes.
As the line dwindled, one man picked up a bag of food and stopped at the next table. A volunteer invited him to pick up another bag, this one with 15 fresh eggs.
Incredulous, he shouted to no one in particular: “They got eggs, and eggs are $7 a pop!”
Back in the kitchen, Kersten and another volunteer were already prepping for Thursday’s meal — peeling sweet potatoes from a farmer.
Sophie Carson is a general assignment reporter who reports on religion and faith, immigrants and refugees and more. Contact her at scarson@gannett.com or 920-323-5758.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: All Saints Catholic Church hot meal program serves 200+ meals a night