One woman in Middleboro, MA is making a big difference "one meal at a time"
Road race
benefits Middleboro community kitchen
Taunton, MA —
Taunton Gazette 01/20/13
More than 200
participants in the second annual Run for Your Lunch raced five and a half
kilometers before dining at the finish line on Sunday.
It was all to
help All Are Welcome community kitchen in Middleboro, which is a type of
restaurant with a policy of asking its patrons to pay what they can afford for
a meal.
“I think it’s
fabulous for everyone to come out and support us,” said Karen Cook, who founded
All Are Welcome last year, opening it in March 2012 using funds from the
inaugural Run for Your Lunch Race. “I have friends in road race community. It’s
a fun thing to do. To put the community kitchen work and the running together
is a lot of fun. We’ve got a lot of community support.”
Each
participant paid at least $20 to run the road race and to have a lunch of clam
or corn chowder, along with freshly baked bread and desserts. The race was
based at the North Congregational Church.
All Are
Welcome operates twice a week inside Middleboro’s Episcopal church, the Church
of Our Savior on Union Street. On Thursdays a community meal is offered at
lunch time, featuring soups, salads, sandwiches and special hot dishes, while
breakfast is served on Saturdays.
The concept
of the community kitchen is to provide restaurant-quality service while
relieving hunger, Cook said. More fortunate guests pay what they feel is is a
fair price and more if they wish to contribute additionally to the cause, while
those who are fairing less well financially can pay what they can or volunteer.
Cook said the
model has been working well since All Are Welcome opened.
“We are
starting to see the need of the community and are starting to reach the
community who needs us,” she said. “Whether you’re poor or not, you should be
made to feel welcome and should appreciate the meal. We serve in a church, but
we are definitely a restaurant. We are not a soup kitchen. We try to provide a
restaurant atmosphere. For the most part, it seems to be working.”
For Paul
Nickerson, of Middleboro, it was his first road race. Asked how it felt, his
one-word response was “tiring.”
Nickerson
said he knows for sure that the 2013 Run for Your Lunch was for a good cause,
because he has eaten at All Are Welcome and said the food served there is
excellent.
“This race
was a good time, and there’s a sense of accomplishment,” Nickerson said. “The
community kitchen is a good cause. I’ve had breakfast a few times and it’s good
stuff.”
Sunday’s road
race was also dedicated to Mary DuPont, a member of the board of All Are
Welcome who died of pancreatic cancer on Nov. 11. All Are Welcome pledged to
donate $1 to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network for every pre-registered
entrant in the 2013 Run for Your Lunch race.
Runners like
Adam Petti, 15, of Raynham, said he knew DuPont’s story and that everyone was
wearing orange in honor of her.
“It’s good
when a community comes together and helps different causes,” Petti said.
One of the
youngest participants in the road race was Raynham’s Gregory Melusky, who is 10
years old. Melusky said he was proud to help out All Are Welcome.
“The race was
tough and it felt longer than it really was,” Melusky said. “I think the All
Are Welcome is a great cause. I like to support it because there are some
people out there who don’t have any food to eat. Raising money here is giving
those people an opportunity to have a lunch and breakfast.”
