Wooster Students to Prepare, Serve Meal to Low-Income Residents

Free dinner to be served on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio — A group of interfaith student organizations at The College of Wooster will join service and justice organizations from the College to present a “fall feast” for low-income residents in the City of Wooster on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Approximately 50 Wooster students will gather at Trinity United Church of Christ to serve a free meal to an estimated 100 people from the four meal programs in town (Trinity’s breakfast program, Salvation Army, Zion Lutheran’s "Meals Together” program and 2nd Baptist’s Friday Dinners).

“Interfaith Campus Ministries students gather each year to plan an interfaith event for the campus community,” said Linda Morgan-Clement, chaplain and director of interfaith campus ministry as well as an adjunct in the department of religious studies at Wooster. “This year, the group decided to create the Fall Feast for members of the City of Wooster community who do not get to eat as regularly or as well as students do each day. The project comes out of student's joint commitment to service as a part of their moral and (for some) spiritual connections. This is a perfect way for Interfaith Campus Ministries' joint focus on spiritual and religious life and peace and social justice to be embodied in action. Funding for the meal is coming from those who participate in the Soup and Bread program, which enables individuals to eat a modest lunch and designate the difference in price from their meal plan to a fund to feed the hungry.

Organizers are hoping to encourage more than 200 students, faculty, and staff to swipe in for Soup and Bread the day before the event. This will help support the cost of the meal, which is being provided by Wooster’s Dining Services.

The students will work with the employees of Dining Services to prepare and serve the meal on Saturday. They will also fellowship and eat with the attendees during the meal.

The student groups involved are Hillel, Noor, Soup and Bread, Wooster Volunteer Network, Newman Catholic, Wooster Christian Fellowship, Secular Student Alliance, Worthy Questions, Peace by Peace, Poverty House, Word Up, Campus Impact, Interfaith Scholars, and Interfaith Dinners.