A United Methodist minister who started a dinner church last fall at the Aaron McNeil House is feeding several dozen people every Thursday evening, but recently the demand has been greater than the means.
“Since the churches are not meeting, our funds are dwindling,” Donna Williams said.
“The last three weeks we have done between 45 and 50. We’ve run out of food,” she said.
Many of the people who come to the Breaking Bread Community Dinner Church are homeless.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, they would arrive at 5 p.m. and fill their plates. After they ate and heard a brief devotional led by Williams, they filled to-go boxes for family members and friends who could not get to the service.
Now they come and go quickly with boxed meals.
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Williams is asking the community for financial support so she can continue the meals, which could become crucial for the city’s poorest residents as unemployment climbs.
The pandemic is a double-hit to efforts like the dinner church. It increases the need while also disrupting support.
Originally from Chicago, Williams and her husband, Bob, moved to Hopkinsville about 15 years ago to be closer to her daughter. Williams might be best known in the community as the proprietor of the former Coffee And shop on South Main Street.
But her life took a different turn when she decided to study for the ministry. She’s now the pastor of Bethel United Methodist Church in Russellville. She is a certified lay minister because she completed her studies after the mandatory retirement age of 72 in the United Methodist Church.
Last year Williams received $2,000 in start-up money for the dinner church from the Pennyrile District of the United Methodist Church. It’s becoming difficult to raise enough money from other donors because local churches that would typically help are not meeting.
Another Methodist program that provided lunches and a food pantry, Micah Mission downtown, closed last week to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
If it can raise some donations, the dinner church at Aaron McNeil will continue because it’s providing to-go meals.
Williams is asking that donations be sent to St. John United Methodist Church, 2808 S. Virginia St., Hopkinsville, KY 42240. Williams is a member of St. John. Donors should note the contribution is for the dinner church, she said.
The dinner church also needs volunteers. Anyone interested in helping can contact Williams through email at dwilliams945@gmail.com.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
