Richard "Dickie" Eby, left, sits at a table looking at a map of Nebraska prior to the start of lunch at the Lewis County Gospel Mission on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Volunteers Sue Taylor, left, and Marcia Ray serve up lunch at the Lewis County Gospel Mission Chehalis in July 2015. The Mission is currently looking for volunteers.
Patrons of the Lewis County Gospel Mission say a pray before lunch is served on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Volunteers Sue Taylor, left, and Marcia Ray serve up lunch at the Lewis County Gospel Mission in July 2015.
Sue Taylor serves up at plate of meatballs for lunch at the Lewis County Gospel Mission on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Five years ago, when Lewis County Gospel Mission began serving meals to people in need in downtown Chehalis, it averaged a few hundred meals a month.
In June, the group served more than 3,000 meals.
“When we got done (June 30) we had served 3,065,” said Fay Ternan, director of Lewis County Gospel Mission.
In January and February, Lewis County Gospel Mission served 1,919 and 1,901 meals, respectively. In March, the number of meals jumped to 2,561 and continued at well over 2,000 meals in April with 2,333 and in May with 2,300.
“This month (June) alone is an all-time record,” said volunteer Sue Taylor as she dished up mashed potatoes and meatballs at lunch on Wednesday.
At more than 14,000 meals served in the first half of 2015, the group has already served two-thirds of the total number of meals it did in 2014, Ternan said.
What’s behind this sudden increase?
“There’s a lot of different factors,” Ternan said.
One reason, she said, is that more people are learning about the services provided by the mission, which include breakfast and lunch five days a week, brunch on weekends, clothing, emergency food bags and showers three days a week.
“I think more people here find out this is pretty much a safe place, and they serve good food,” she said. “I think that’s only a small percentage of it.”
As of May, Lewis County’s unemployment rate was one of the highest in the state at 8.6 percent, compared to the statewide average of 5.4 percent.
However, in May 2014, nearly 9 percent of county residents were unemployed, and more than 10 percent were out of work the previous May.
While the unemployment rate is slowly dropping, Ternan said, people in Lewis County are still struggling.
“The number of people who are out there who are falling in the cracks is growing,” she said.
Some of the mission’s clients are chronically homeless, while others are in transition, Ternan said. Others come in for breakfast before commitments at Lewis County’s drug court. Some clients have jobs, but don’t work enough hours or make enough money to fully support themselves, she said. The mission doesn’t directly ask clients about their financial situation.
Atlas George, who said he is homeless and underemployed, said every person who takes advantage of meals at the mission is in a unique situation.
“There’s so much diversity,” he said. “A lot of people tend to try … to put a label on us — it doesn’t work.”
The mission is popular partly because of its atmosphere, George said.
“I think the reason people specifically flock to this place (is) it’s comfortable,” he said. “Now, when I can, I volunteer.”
The increase could be seasonal, said kitchen manager Tamra Higley, noting that summer is often busier than winter.
When the organization began serving food in 2010, it catered exclusively to people recently released from the Lewis County Jail, serving coffee and hot dogs and helping with immediate needs such as clothing.
Ternan started volunteering not long after the mission was formed.
“At some point, I had to get out of the pew … so I started volunteering to cook,” she said. “My mom was a short-order cook.”
Since then, the mission has expanded to serve a broader group of people, and has developed a reputation for serving good, hot meals. On Wednesday, lunch included salad, mashed potatoes with meatballs and gravy, lasagna and bread.
With the extra demand for breakfast and lunch, the kitchen is often short on food.
“We’re stretched to the max,” Ternan said. “We depend daily on what comes in the door. We’ve been living a loaves and fishes existence.”
Higley said there have been several instances recently when kitchen volunteers thought they didn’t have enough food for meals and got last-minute donations.
“Right now, God’s just providing,” she said. “Our numbers are so huge (but) food keeps coming in. If it wasn’t for our volunteers and our donations, we would not be able to do this.”
The mission is also nearly out of canned food used for emergency food bags for clients. On Wednesday, the group only had a few pairs of men’s jeans and one pair of boots.
“We need people who will support this place financially,” Ternan said.
Ternan and the mission’s 40 to 50 workers donate all of their time spent at the facility.
“We don’t have a lot of overhead,” she said. “We try to be as frugal as we can be.”
The dining area at the mission has been so packed lately, Ternan said, the organization is saving money to expand to another portion of their leased building.
For more information on the Lewis County Gospel Mission, call (360) 996-4474.
