Claremont church providing free meals

Each Sunday, laughter can be heard flooding out of the kitchen at First Presbyterian Church in Claremont. This is where Kay Fate, Penny McMartin O’Brien and Allison Ross happily package Sunday lunches for area families and senior citizens.
As many as 25 homemade meals are trotted out to waiting cars on Sunday between 11 and 11:30 a.m. The organizers also deliver meals to people not wanting to venture out into public because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I always make sure to order my food,” said Yesenia Galvan, who has a family of six. “It’s helped us out a lot.”
Galvan received a flyer about the Sunday meal distribution alerting her to the service. The organizing trio of Fate, McMartin O’Brien and Ross includes mention of the free lunches in a flyer put out to the community by First Presbyterian Church.
Joyce McMartin, McMartin O’Brien’s mother, is among the at-home recipients of the free Sunday meal. “It’s very nice,” she said. “It’s a good meal. The food is always really tasty. It’s always good company when they come and bring the food.”
While some like McMartin get the food partly for the face time with people from outside their home, others such as Galvan look to the Sunday lunches as a money saver during hard financial times. Galvan had to give up her job to help her four kids, ages 3, 4, 9 and 10, with distance learning at home.
Galvan’s kids’ favorite meal so far was the chili with corn bread, while she and her husband favored the chicken pasta with biscuits. On Sunday, Dec. 20, the menu was Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, spinach salad and red velvet cake.
“It fills our souls as well,” Ross said of preparing the freebies. “It not only fills a need within the community but fills our souls too.”
“This does so much for me every week,” Fate agreed. “We are so lucky to do this.”
McMartin O’Brien and Ross both have full-time jobs they juggle in addition to preparing the weekly Sunday meal for area residents. Ross lives in Claremont and McMartin O’Brien and Fate reside in Dodge Center, but First Presbyterian is their home church. McMartin O’Brien grew up in the church, Ross has been attending since age 4 and Fate is the newcomer with 25 years of church going behind her.
Fate said the church is tiny, “but we are mighty.” In Claremont both the Catholic and Lutheran churches have shut down, leaving First Presbyterian as the only church in this small town. “We do as much for the community as we can,” Fate said.
“Claremont is economically depressed, “ she said. “People choose to live here because it’s cheap. That also means they don’t have a lot of money. We know the need is there. We see it. We know other people see it.
“We know that religion has a pretty bad name sometimes because of the way people who call themselves Christians behave. We do want to find things that Claremont should be doing, which is caring for each other and feeding the hungry. We are a church. We aren’t a country club. We want to love you.”
To reserve a meal, area residents need to call First Presbyterian at 507-528-2320 each Thursday by 5 p.m. Leave your name, phone number and how many meals you need and then be prepared to pick up your meal between 11 and 11:30 on Sundays.
“It’s what we want to do,” Fate said. “We’re really lucky the three of us. We have our church family right here.”
The dynamic trio is also planning to open an outdoor food pantry come January. Once approved by the church, an old refrigerator will be repurposed into a storage area for non-perishable food items, hygiene products and books.
They might dub the fridge “Fridge of Faith” or “Faith Fridge,” said Ross.
“I think it’s wonderful,” First Presbyterian minister Doug Walters said of the undertakings at his church. “We are prone to doing the same things until we are forced to be creative. It’s been amazing to see the creativity these ladies have to meet the needs of the community. This keeps the community together.”