Story originally published in The Sylva Herald, April 3 edition.
St. David’s Church offers free meals for WCU students and the local community.
With food insecurity on the rise, St. David’s is not only serving free hot meals, they are providing a warm and welcoming space for the community to come together.
The episcopal church in Cullowhee and Community Table from Sylva are now offering a free meal for students and community members in Cullowhee, on Thursday evenings from 5 to 6 p.m. at St. David’s church, right across from Ramsey Center, at 385 Forest Hills Drive in Cullowhee.
“We talked with our students who are in the Episcopal Campus Ministry. They got to talking about it and said, well, there are plenty of hungry students on campus, so that’s how it got started,” said Marilyn Jody, former professor in the English department at WCU and member at St. David’s.
The program started in February, with hot meals delivered from the Community Table.
Take-home food items
The church provides a pantry so that people can take home non-perishable food items after the meal. There is a small grab-and-go food pantry in front of the church that is always open to students and community members. The freestanding pantry is made of wood from the old altar at St. David’s.
St. David’s wants people to know they are simply providing a space for the Community Table and a food pantry, no strings attached.
The church welcomes anyone who wants to come, from families, to students and any Cullowhee community members. There are no requirements to come, and no names or paperwork gathered.
“I’d like students to know they don’t just have to be hungry and if they just want some people to eat with, we’d love to have them come,” said Kelley Dinkelmeyer, professor of physics at WCU and member of St. David’s.
The Community Table is about 15 minutes from campus and the meals at St. David’s mean students who don’t have cars can get food more easily.
Brad Ulrich, professor of music at WCU and member at St. Davids, makes homemade bread for some meals.
“There’s nothing, no paperwork, just if you identify as ‘Hey, I’m hungry, I’d like to eat.’ Come on in,” Jody said.
The Department of Education research from 2023 shows that over 23% of college undergraduate students and 12% of graduate students, are experiencing food insecurity. MANNA FoodBank, with over 200 locations around the country, has a location based in Ashville that distributes food to the Community Table.
The church is also accepting donations of non-perishables. If there is an overflow of goods, they will be taken to Home Base on campus.
The Catholic campus ministry on WCU campus also offers home-made free meal for students and community on Wednesdays starting at 6 p.m.
For more information, please visit The Community Table to find out more.
