For Brittany Lesch, serving at Community Meals every Tuesday is more than a necessary service project.
Lesch, a senior studying music therapy and a member of Ohio University Christian service group, Reach Out on Campus, has been serving free meals at the Athens Church of Christ since she was a freshman.
We get to sit around and talk and just relax for a while. So it's pretty nice to just hang out with real people eating real food for a while and just kind of get away from the speed of college life
Lesch said.
The need for free meals is growing in Athens, said Tracy Galway, community relations coordinator for Athens County Job and Family Services.
The number of Athens County residents receiving food stamps increased from 10,779 to 10,909 between 2005 and 2006.
We know that what people get in food stamps is not enough Galway said.
Despite the local need for free meals, attendance has been decreasing at Community Meals, probably because of high fuel prices, said Connie Teske, a member of the church.
Transportation assistance is another service provided by Job and Family Services that has high demand.
We have had a huge increase in requests for transportation assistance. Even if people have a car they may not have the money to fill it up with gas
Galway said.
Community Meals at the Athens Church of Christ started 15 years ago as a service project for a young adult Sunday school class, and originally was offered only once a month, said Redina Dailey, coordinator of Community Meals.
The free meal program was designed as a way for students in the Sunday school class to meet with other Christians and connect to the community, she said. -
Dailey said.
When Rich Teske, director of Reach Out on Campus, and his family joined the church, ROC began supplying volunteers for the Tuesday meals.
It was a natural connection. He wanted the kids to have a service experience and he was already working with Community Meals
so it was a seamless connection
Dailey said.
Reach Out on Campus and the church strives to live by the idea that service is a natural part of life.
This is who we are ' we are people who feed those who are hungry. We have to remember we're called to be these kinds of people
Teske said
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