FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UPDATED AS OF 9-3-2020
TIME CHANGE
Melissa Linebrink
Marketing and Communications Consultant
Oberlin City Schools
(440) 774-1458, ext. 4608
mlinebrink@oberlinschools.net
Christ Church Offers Free Dinner Meals to Oberlin School Families
OBERLIN -- Christ Episcopal Church is softening the burden of meal prep from parents and teachers by offering free dinner meals for the first part of the 2020-2021 school year.
Christ Episcopal Church Interim Rector The Rev. Sarah Shofstall said Oberlin Weekday Community Meals Program, an organization of volunteers and board members of various Oberlin churches, operates out of the church and uses farm ingredients from a working farm on the property of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio near Wakeman.
Prior to COVID-19, food for the church’s summer camping program and other programs would come mostly from the farm’s produce. However, all summer camping programs and others were canceled due to the pandemic.
With the decrease in summer programming, there is now an abundance of homegrown vegetables, as well as eggs from the pasture-raised chickens and locally produced honey and maple syrup.
“We have been receiving some of the produce from the farm to support Oberlin Weekday Community Meals Program, and the farm continues to produce a huge array of vegetables,” Rev. Shofstall said.
Knowing there are families in need within Oberlin City Schools, Rev. Shofstall reached out to Oberlin City Schools Student and Family Support Director Mr. Jay Nimene and the two began thinking of ways to help the community.
“The conversation between myself and Rev. Shofstall was very heart-warming. She heard and saw that we have a need to feed the community and wanted to help,” Mr. Nimene said. “But, these meals are for everyone - the working parents of Oberlin, those who are staying home to help their children with e-Learning and even teachers.”
The dinner meals will be handed out during the District’s afternoon distribution from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at Christ Church, located at 162 South Main St., Oberlin.
“For many years, Oberlin Weekday Community Meals Program has provided a hot evening meal, every weeknight, for those in need,” Rev. Shofstall said. “All the meals would be produced by a trained chef and packaged to take home. It would remove the burden of meal prep from parents and teachers.”