OLR Dinner Feeds Stomach and Soul

Every Friday night at 6 p.m., a group gathers in a dining area at Our Lady of the Rosary Church. The group comprised a mix of ages, ethnicities and even religions, but they all have one common goal for the evening. 

“They come because they need to eat,” said Sue Bonin, head volunteer at the church, about those who attend the weekly Dinner for Those in Need.

According to Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger relief charity, one in six people struggle every day to get enough to eat. Union City is not immune to the effects of the current economic climate, with 9.3 percent of residents living below the poverty level as of 2009, according to city-data.com. 

“They know this is where they can get a meal on Friday night, and then there’s somewhere [else] they can go Saturday for lunch,” Bonin said, referring to calendar of local agencies, churches and other organizations in the Tri-Cities that, like OLR, offer free hot meals. 

The Dinner for Those in Need began in 1999 as an idea from the Rev. Jose Leon, pastor of  Our Lady of the Rosary. Over the past 12 years, it has grown into a weekly event that can attract anywhere from 15 to 40 people, depending upon such factors as the weather and time of the month, volunteers said.

At the beginning of the month—when paychecks and government funds are distributed—there is usually a lull in attendance, said Jim Lewis, a dinner volunteer for 12 years.

The weekly dinners are funded by church donations and provided by Spectrum Community Services, a Hayward-based non-profit that also provides meals to Tri-Cities senior centers, according to Robert Clark, OLR's parish business manager. 

Members of the Spectrum Community Services staff cook the meals and deliver them to the church, where volunteers, often local students from James Logan High School or Moreau Catholic High School, add to the menu by fixing side dishes such as rice and desserts such as brownies. 

Whether the evening’s meal is chicken cacciatore or a slow-cooked pot roast, certain qualities are always present.

“It will always be delicious and it will always be nutritious,” said J.J. Libbon, a member of the Spectrum fellowship for the past 10 years. 

For many, the Friday night dinner fills more than just hungry stomachs—it provides sustenance for their souls. The dining hall welcomes them with no judgment, only the promise of a warm meal and some company. 

“I heard about the dinners through word of mouth,” said Joe, a Decoto resident who asked to be referred to only by his first name.

A line in “The Lord’s Prayer,” a central devotion in Christianity, says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” OLR’s Friday night dinners provide this in both a literal and a spiritual sense. 

“I get a good meal, yeah, but it's more than that," Joe said. "It’s the camaraderie and meeting up with people I haven’t seen in a while."

Dinner For Those in Need is held every Friday at 6 p.m. For more information on about the dinner or any of Our Lady of the Rosary's other social service projects, contact the church at 510-471-2609.