Free community meal Aug. 30 to be served at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church opens its doors to the community again for its free Friday meal at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 30. All are invited to stop in for some homemade tuna mac salad, fresh fruit, and lemon bars.

Meals will be served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., or until supplies run out. Diners can park and come inside the church’s Social Hall to enjoy a meal with others, or walk in to pick up a takeout meal for themselves or family members, a neighbor or friend.

Bags of nonperishable groceries will also be available.

Tuna mac salad has become an August tradition for Stone Soup, volunteer April Garner said recently.

“It's a filling, protein- and veggie-packed meal that's light enough to enjoy when it's still too hot for soup − sort of a farewell to summer before we start to transition to fall recipes,” she added.

The recipe includes pasta, canned tuna, mayo, sweet pickle relish, lemon juice, celery, onion, green peas, salt and pepper. Copies of the recipe will be included with each meal.

More people have been picking up takeout meals lately, versus dining in, Garner added. The volunteers are happy to serve people in any way that works for them and their schedules, but they’re hopeful more folks will come in and share a meal together.

“Stone Soup is as much about fellowship as food, and we want to help people feel a sense of community,” Garner said. “I'd also like to stress that this is not a needs-based service; everyone is welcome.”

“We'd love to add some new faces to our team of volunteers,” she added. “There are many ways to help, from chopping vegetables or baking treats at home (we especially need new bakers!), to joining our cooking team on the final Friday morning of the month, helping pack meals for a couple of hours that afternoon, or serving our diners that evening.” Anyone who would like to help is asked to call the ORUUC church office at 483-6761 and leave their name and number to be forwarded to the volunteer team leaders.

ORUUC hosts this monthly free meal, with financial and volunteer support from its own members and friends at the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge. Kroger Marketplace donates the fresh fruit each month. It takes about 30 people to make one of these dinners happen, Garner said.

Volunteers also maintain a small pantry at ORUUC that provides around 20 bags of groceries per month to people in need who request them at the Stone Soup meal and also those who stop by the church office during the week.

Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church is at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike, near traffic light No. 2. All are welcome … always!

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Free community meal Aug. 30 to be served at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church