Kate's Kitchen Welcomes 50 Friends to Summer Barbecue

“Then the righteous will answer him, saying “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and gave you drink?”

And the King will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” Matthew 25: 37, 40

Fifty people enjoyed burgers, hot dogs and smokies with all the trimmings at the Kate’s Kitchen barbecue hosted by Holy Trinity, in Edson, on June 27. 

In the summer of 2009, the Town of Edson conducted a survey to find out how many people were homeless in our community. They identified 69 people who were without shelter, but it was believed there were many more who chose to remain invisible. It doesn’t sound like many compared to the city, but to us, it was a shocking number. As a congregation, we knew we were not able to house these people, but we knew we could do something. We knew they would be hungry, and we all know how good Christians are at feeding people. So, after a brainstorming session, we decided to provide a meal for anyone in need, and Kate’s Kitchen was born. The name originates from St. Catherine’s, as our parish was the name of our parish before we blended with our friends from Grace Lutheran church to become the Shared Ministry of Holy Trinity.

Our first meal was held on the third Thursday of November 2009, and we had 9 guests. Word quickly spread and we grew to sharing with 20 to 30 people by our first anniversary. We are thankful for a couple of restaurants and food stores that help us out with meals and/or ingredients. We also have a wonderful group of people who contribute in many ways to make this venture the success that it is, coming out to help prepare and serve the meals. We are truly blessed to have such willing hands. We started holding a Thanksgiving Dinner and a Christmas dinner, ham and turkey of course, which was and still is a wonderful, joyful occasion. We added a Saturday BBQ in the summer to be enjoyed by our regular guests and people passing by our Main Street location.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit us hard, and we had to suspend our program for three years. However, during that time the local United Church was able to obtain grant money to provide a delivery meal to seniors and needy in the community and invited us to be a part of that ministry. So, the United Trinity Kitchen was born, and meals were taken out to about 100 people each week. This service was reduced to bi-weekly as the pandemic restrictions were lifted and people were able to get out more.

Towards the end of 2023, a donor came forward with the offer to provide a Christmas dinner for our friends that we had missed over the past three years, and so in December, we renewed our commitment to hold our Kate’s Kitchen again. We served an awesome turkey meal, either at the church or by delivery, to 100 people. We also decided to hold our regular meal on the fourth Thursday of each month, to provide a third meal for our friends in the community, in conjunction with the United Trinity Kitchen. Our friends have really enjoyed coming back to break bread with us and we have renewed many friendships. There is a real sense of community, and the buzz of conversation is heartwarming

What we have come to understand is that we are blessed by this ministry by our interaction with those whom we serve, and we pray for many more wonderful meals shared with our community friends.

Christ has no hands or feet but ours.

Submitted by Joan Carter, Holy Trinity, Edson