MERCER ISLAND — For 40 years, a group of St. Monica parishioners has lived out their faith by helping their hungry neighbors at shelters and food programs around the Seattle area.

“Jesus said to be his hands and feet for him,” said Karen Zimmer, lead cook for weekly meals provided by the parish’s Friends of the Needy group. Zimmer, a St. Monica parishioner, has been volunteering with the group for seven years. “We’re his hands and feet in the work we do, making this meal.”

Taking off only Christmas and New Year’s Day, Friends of the Needy’s 50 volunteers work together in a ministry that has been fine-tuned over four decades:

  • Six days a week, volunteers gather leftover food that is still edible from local grocery stores and restaurants.
  • Some of the food is delivered to 15 shelters and organizations in Seattle and on the Eastside to be distributed to those in need; the rest goes to the parish for its meal program.
  • Every Tuesday morning after Mass, volunteers gather in the parish kitchen to prepare a hot meal for 350 people. Other volunteers drive the meals to eight shelters on the Eastside and in Seattle, in time for dinner.
Bob Kessler has been volunteering since 1997 with the Friends of the Needy ministry at St. Monica Parish on Mercer Island. Kessler coordinates the 40-year-old ministry and sometimes fills in as a driver for the ministry’s van, used to deliver food and hot meals to 15 shelters and organizations in Seattle and on the Eastside. (Courtesy Richard Bray)

One of the recipients of the hot meals is the St. Martin de Porres Shelter in Seattle, which serves 52 men aged 50 and older. The meals have “a huge impact,” said Jeffery Cathey, the shelter’s operations manager.

Cathey praised the nutritious, home-cooked meals, saying they provide a “sense of comfort … to the guys.” Although he’s not at the shelter when dinner is served, he knew the men recently had homemade stew, because “the next day they told me how great it was.” He said the meals also help the shelter stretch its budget.

From grocery store to shelter meals

Friends of the Needy began in 1983 with the efforts of parishioner Joanne Taube (who died in 2020), said Bob Kessler, a parishioner who has been a volunteer since 1997 and now coordinates the ministry. As Taube’s obituary stated, “Joanne witnessed grocery waste and began gleaning past-date food from grocery stores to take to Seattle shelters. Joanne’s ministry grew and she eventually founded the St. Monica Friends of the Needy program.”

Kessler, 87, said God inspired him to participate in Friends of the Needy. One day while swimming, Kessler said, he asked, “Lord, how can I thank you for all this pleasure?” The reply was, “‘Feed my sheep,’” Kessler said, “and I took that literally.”

Today, six days a week, parishioner Jan Kentnor goes to Metropolitan Market on Mercer Island to check out the food that is available. The grocery store gives them thousands of dollars of food per week, she said.

“I admire them so much,” Kentnor said. “Nothing is wasted.”

Jan Kentnor and Bob Kessler are volunteers with the Friends of the Needy ministry at St. Monica Parish on Mercer Island. Kessler, who has been volunteering since 1997, coordinates the ministry that has 50 volunteers and provides food and hot meals to those in need. (Courtesy Richard Bray)

When Kentnor began volunteering with Friends of the Needy over nine years ago, she started helping in the kitchen by preparing fresh fruit salad.

“I made it my goal that they have fruit salad every week,” she said.

Now, Kentnor coordinates food deliveries to shelters and organizations, made by the ministry’s 20 volunteer drivers. Kessler said he often fills in as a driver because “I’m in good health and can still lift the boxes.”

Frank Mills, a parishioner who has been volunteering for “a few years,” coordinates the schedules of the 50 volunteers and fills in as driver.

“I think of Matthew 25 (‘For I was hungry and you gave me food…’) when I’m doing this,” said Mills, “and can do some little part of even one of the things on the list.”

Food that can be used in preparing the weekly meal is brought to the St. Monica kitchen. For Zimmer, who leads the team of a dozen or more cooks, menu planning starts the week before when she checks out what type of meat is in the kitchen’s freezer. Each meal includes a casserole with meat and vegetables, a green salad, a fruit salad and hot buttered bread.

“God wants us to use our talents and resources,” Zimmer said. “If your parish has a kitchen, that’s a resource.”

Although most of the weekly meal is created with donated food, the team occasionally needs to purchase some ingredients.

A group of Friends of the Needy volunteers pauses for a photo while preparing the weekly meal that the ministry delivers to shelters in the Seattle area. (Photo: Dana Kim)

Since the day Kessler had a chance encounter at a QFC grocery store in nearby Factoria with a man who turned out to be the president of the chain, the company gives Friends of the Needy $1,500 in gift cards each year.

“I see God’s hand in all the little decisions we make,” Kessler said, noting those cards and other monetary donations help fill in the menu gaps.

The team’s goal, Zimmer said, is creating “a home meal, like Mom made” for those who come to eat. “They say they love everything,” she said of the diners. “That makes us happy.”

Learn more about Friends of the Needy.