The Sitka Lutheran Church is the distribution point for a free brown bag lunch, available every Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (Karla James/KCAW photo)
Sitka’s church community is working together to provide a free meal to locals on Sundays. Sack lunches are available every Sunday at the Sitka Lutheran Church from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Inside are two sandwiches, fruit, and other snacks.
Five churches share in the work of providing and distributing the sack lunches: Sitka Lutheran Church, St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church of Sitka, Sitka Seventh-day Adventist Church, and St. Gregory Catholic Church. Deacon Kathryn Snelling of St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church and Pastor Sandra Rudd with the Sitka Lutheran Church talk about the program.
Their collaboration was borne out of the closure of the Presbyterian Church, which used to provide a hot meal on Sundays. “Everybody in Sitka sees people who are hungry. It’s hard to ask for help and we want to make it less difficult and more acceptable, to know the people and know what their stories are. As churches, we don’t necessarily try to fix anything. We just try to love them,” said Pastor Rudd.
St. Gregory Catholic Church also provides a hot meal on Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. Sitka Lutheran also provides free soup supper on Wednesday evening. If your church is interesting in joining in the sack lunch program, contact Pastor Julie Platson at St. Peter’s by the Sea.
This Morning Interview conversation is a part of our series, “The Cost of Living in Sitka.”
