Parishes join together to show love through meals, break ground on new facility

By Jennifer Barton

Rhode Island Catholic Correspondent

WAKEFIELD — A meal sounds like such a simple thing, yet beyond the need for bodily nourishment lies the necessity of social and emotional nourishment. All of these can be achieved through a simple dinner shared with others. The vision behind the Kitchen of Hope at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Wakefield goes beyond physical food. What started out as a group of people looking for something to do became a means of reaching out into the community, to being Jesus’ hands and feet to others. Thanks to dedicated volunteers and support of their new pastor, Father Albert Ranallo, Kitchen of Hope is about to gain a new home.

Father Ranallo, Craig Marciniak and Eve Sweeney spoke with Rhode Island Catholic about the project. As Kitchen of Hope director, Marciniak explained how the ministry came about and its mission. Initially, the group hadn’t planned to build an actual kitchen. In December of 2020, during the pandemic, parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi, including Marciniak, began volunteering at nearby Peace Dale Congregational Church’s Dinner Table ministry.

Fast forward four years, and while the pandemic ended, financial hardship continues for many in Rhode Island. But many are willing to help ease the burden.

Today, Marciniak stated that: “We also have volunteers … from Christ the King, St. Thomas More and surrounding parishes, and some people who don’t even go to the church that just want to show love to the community by volunteering with us.”

During COVID, they reached out to parish secretaries, asking for recommendations for “people that could use a little love from us,” Marciniak said.

Some of these men and women they reached out to – elderly people in their 80s and 90s – were reluctant to accept meals from them. But after engaging these elderly men and women in conversation, volunteers persuaded them to accept this care.

“What’s really beautiful about this is it’s not just about getting food out to the community, it’s about getting to know the community,” Marciniak remarked.

Using their own facility, Peace Dale provides meals on Wednesday nights while Kitchen of Hope utilizes the space to host Friday night meals, which currently feed just under 400 people. The new facility currently being built can accommodate 600 to 700 meals a day. When it opens in October, organizers expect to feed about 500 people each Friday and plan to add a Monday night dinner as well. These dinners are free for anyone in need and cost the ministry around $2 a person through donations. No one in need is ever turned away. God provides.

“The population that we’re currently serving is the elderly, the homeless, people of both physical and mental illness, the disabled, shut-ins and a lot of families that are just struggling to put food on the table right now because of the cost of living down here in South Kingstown,” Marciniak said.

As the economy continues to be unstable, numerous Rhode Islanders feel the financial pinch. Grocery prices and other necessities keep increasing. Marciniak quoted a study saying that housing costs for single-parent families has risen above $83,000. Providing supplementary food for these mothers and fathers takes one bill away from them, he continued.

Much of the funding comes through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, whom Kitchen of Hope works closely with in their ministry. Kitchen of Hope partners with local businesses as well to provide restaurant-quality meals, both in-house and delivery-style. Belmont Market, Panera Bread and Staples contribute food and printing supplies to make the meal deliveries possible. Cobrum Estate, a California producer of olive oil, donated a pallet of their product worth $4,000 to Kitchen of Hope. South County Hospital sponsored a surf ‘n’ turf meal around Christmas to the tune of several thousand dollars. The ministry even has its own garden, Garden of Hope, for fresh produce, a project undertaken last year by a high school senior.

“It’s just amazing how anyone we talk to about this program, they’re just all in.”

Father Ranallo added how the community supports the new construction project, noting that last year’s fundraiser gala “A Night in Italy” raised $79,000 and both Christ the King and St. Thomas More Parish have given generously to fundraising efforts.

“Both those churches want to be deeply involved in this program once we expand,” Marciniak said.

He sees the program as a means of bringing Catholic and Protestant churches together in service to others. Sweeney said that it also brings the message of Catholicism to the community. Father Ranallo affirmed that, stating that as pastor, his job is to evangelize and he does this by meeting people where they are and providing for their needs. Only then can they feel comfortable to ask spiritual and theological questions.

Serving 330 meals requires a crew of 45 onsite volunteers in a day, from preparing “restaurant-quality” food in the morning to packaging and labelling the meals and finally to the food deliverers in the afternoon.

Sweeney stated that she needs 11 or 12 food delivery volunteers each week to distribute meals to families and individuals in 130 homes and apartments across the area. These volunteers become “very close; they know everybody, they know their birthdays,” she said.

Making home deliveries also enables them to be the “eyes and ears” of the ministry. These volunteers can see if a person might have been evicted, taken a fall or has other needs that they would not otherwise ask for help with.

Once, there was a military veteran and his wife about to become homeless that the group was able to relocate to a condo after putting much work into it to make it habitable. “We have about 40-50 volunteers; we did it in about a week. It was just a great fellowshipping, reaching out into the community as well.”

Another woman, who has been undergoing cancer treatments, stopped having meals delivered to her because everything tasted like metal. After contacting her, Marciniak learned about the few foods she could eat that tasted right and Kitchen of Hope now provides her with a special meal consisting of those foods.

“She just means so much to us,” Marciniak commented. “She’s going through a horrible time, she’s all alone and we just know that every week by doing that, she can feel the love of everyone here at our church.”

As for the delivery drivers, Sweeney said, “Every single one of these people are so committed and just fall in love with the project. If I miss someone or haven’t put them on the schedule, I’ll get a call; they so want to be there.”

When the new facility opens, organizers hope to host Thursday night dine-ins, with a model similar to Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Kitchen in New Jersey, where customers pay what they can in either money or volunteerism. Marciniak pointed toward relationships he witnessed at those locations between volunteers and community members. “We want everybody to feel a part of this community. We don’t want them to feel excluded because they may not be able to financially support something.”

“God gave us a gift, and he didn’t give us a gift to hold onto, he gave us a gift to share it.”

For members of Kitchen of Hope, that means preparing and serving meals with a smile, recognizing the dignity of each person receiving it.