Com­mu­nity Meals is Hennepin’s hunger and hos­pi­tal­ity pro­gram.  For over 20 years, Hen­nepin has been part of a down­town church con­sor­tium com­mit­ted to pro­vid­ing a hot meal on Sun­day evenings to low income and home­less people.

40–50 vol­un­teers wel­come 225–450 guests to a deli­cious din­ner on the first and fifth Sun­day of each month.  In addi­tion to din­ner, guests also receive shelf-stable pantry items, toi­letries, socks and under­wear, and U of MN vet stu­dents pro­vide free vac­cines and care for guest’s pets.

Vol­un­teers of all ages and abil­i­ties find fun, ful­fill­ing work at the Com­mu­nity Meal. It’s a true min­istry of joy and wel­come. As a par­ent you can be a role model for your kids. Or, it’s a great way to vol­un­teer with a group of friends or meet a whole new group of ter­rific peo­ple. You don’t need to be a church mem­ber to vol­un­teer. All are wel­come. You can work one meal a year or more. Time com­mit­ment is a min­i­mum of 2 hours per meal. A sam­pling of jobs includes:

• Waiter (we have table service)
• Bev­er­age server (a great job for young children)
• Kitchen server
• Dish­washer
• Cook (requires more than the 2 hour time commitment)
• Give­away Shelf worker
• Enter­tainer (pianist, singer, or what­ever moves you!)

If being present at the meal does not inter­est you, please con­sider sup­port­ing this impor­tant hunger out­reach with your prayers and dona­tions. To vol­un­teer, please call 612–871-5303 and ask for the Com­mu­nity Meals voice mail.

Com­mu­nity Meals joined the dig­i­tal age! To sanely man­age our vol­un­teers, we sim­pli­fied it by using an easy online tool for vol­un­teer man­age­ment!  Sign up for as many meals as you’d like and pick your “job”!  Chal­lenge your­self! Try a new job. They are all cru­cial.  Click here to sign up.