Volunteers prepare meals to be handed out to the community during April’s community dinner
Meals are passed to an April attendee through the window of their vehicle by volunteers
Volunteers pose for a photo in the Onalaska Elementary School parking lot during April’s community dinner
The Onalaska community is used to sharing a dinner together once a month in the Onalaska Elementary School cafeteria. It’s been that way for eight years now, according to community organizer Annette Erickson.
That’s why, she said, it was imperative the community dinners adapt in the era of social distancing. She and head organizer Vicky Miles had to start thinking outside the box.
“With not being able to use the school facilities, Vicki said ‘we still have families that could use that free dinner, so how could we do this?,’” Erickson said. “So, we kind of made a plan.”
That plan centered around a transition from families coming to the cafeteria and gathering, to staying in their cars, driving through the parking lot and picking up their meals. In April, Miles and Erickson said the adjusted plan was unveiled and ultimately successful.
According to Miles, 208 meals were served over roughly 55 minutes during April’s curbside pick-up event.
“We just wanted people to be reassured that we’re still here, we’re going to be here for them and that we need to keep our hope, strength and love,” Miles said. “The whole idea is to help people gather together who are shut-ins, who are lonely and make us a family within the community.”
Miles is affiliated with Bethel Church in Centralia. According to Erickson, eight of the 12 dinners typically served in a year in Onalaska are sponsored by local churches. She said the curbside dinners are being sponsored by Bethel and other churches in the area.
Erickson added the main goal of the dinners, regardless of format, is to promote community enrichment.
“At first, a lot of families were just like, ‘oh, it’s for people who are in need and can use that free meal,’” Erickson said. “Now, they’re really understanding that it’s for everyone.”
From Miles’ perspective, the adjusted dinners have not only come as a product of heightened creativity during an unprecedented time, but as a product of faith.
“It gave us hope,” Miles said. “Seeing the smiles, I mean, we could see their smiles, they couldn’t really see ours, you know, we followed the rules, but just to reassure people that they’re going to be okay … for us, when we do it, it’s all about Jesus, you know. We just want people to know that God hasn’t forgotten them.
She continued by saying the curbside dinners have appealed to attendees that didn’t used to attend the in-person dinners. By Miles’ estimation, 60 percent of the people who utilized the meal pick-up last month were new faces.
“It was people just wanting to see other people, I think,” Miles said. “We do it because we can rally together for the same cause.”
Erickson cited the benefit of maintaining some sort of routine during a time in which many had to be scrapped, as one of the primary reasons why the organizers felt as though the dinners should adapt.
Everything down to making sure the dinner was still hosted on the fourth Tuesday of each month was important.
“Just having that continuity and that consistency to continue that community enrichment,” Erickson said.
May’s dinner is scheduled to take place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Anyone interested in picking up a meal can head to Onalaska for a taco salad, until supplies run out.
“We could’ve said, ‘oh, can’t do it in the school, I guess we can’t do it’ but it’s coming up with innovative ways to still connect, still meet needs and still show people that we’re here for support,” Erickson said. “When you’ve got something that’s not working, you figure out how to make it work, so I think that’s human nature at its best.”
