Christ Church offers free dinner to families

Christ Episcopal Church, 162 S. Main St. in Oberlin, is softening the burden of meal prep from parents and teachers by offering free dinner meals for the first part of the 20202021 school year, according to a news release.

Christ Episcopal Church interim Rector The Rev. Sarah Shofstall said Oberlin Weekday Community Meals Program, an organization of volunteers and board members of various Oberlin churches, operates out of the church and uses farm ingredients from a working farm on the property of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio near Wakeman, the release said.

Prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic, food for the church’s summer camping program and other programs mostly would come from the farm’s produce, according to the release.

However, all summer camping programs and others were canceled due to the pandemic.

With the decrease in summer programming, there now is an abundance of homegrown vegetables, as well as eggs from the pasture-raised chickens and locally produced honey and maple syrup.

“We have been receiving some of the produce from the farm to support Oberlin Weekday Community Meals Program, and the farm continues to produce a huge array of vegetables,” Shofstall said.

Knowing there are families in need within Oberlin City Schools, Shofstall reached out to Oberlin City Schools Student and Family Support Director Jay Nimene and the two began thinking of ways to help the community, according to the release.

“The conversation between myself and Rev. Shofstall was very heart-warming,” Nimene said. “She heard and saw that we have a need to feed the community and wanted to help.

“But, these meals are for everyone - the working parents of Oberlin, those who are staying home to help their children with e-Learning and even teachers.”

The dinner meals will be handed out during the school district’s afternoon distribution from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the church.

“For many years, Oberlin Weekday Community Meals Program has provided a hot evening meal, every weeknight, for those in need,” Shofstall said. “All the meals would be produced by a trained chef and packaged to take home.

“It would remove the burden of meal prep from parents and teachers.”

The dinner meals will be handed out during the school district’s afternoon distribution from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the church.