St Edna Community Table

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me” Matthew 25:35

The first summer of providing dinners once/month (in conjunction with other Arlington Heights area churches) was hosted by the St. Edna Community Table Team in 2014. For the summer seasons since 2015, we hosted dinners twice/month on the first and third Sunday evenings.  We warmly welcomed other St. Edna parish ministry groups to sponsor the dinners.  This is a wonderful way for our parish community to reach out in service to those who are less fortunate.

The 2022 Season

The summer of 2022 was our ninth season, but because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, it continued to be very different.  Many PADS clients were still in hotels over the summer, so St Edna provided meals for some of them.  We also served meals to clients in ToGo style.  With many restrictions lifted, we offered indoor seating for 4 of our 10 dinners.  Very few chose to eat indoors, but those who did seemed to enjoy themselves.  I am happy to report that the PADS sites are re-opening in October for their regular season, but for a number of reasons many of the homeless clients are still being housed in local hotels.  We will continue to help with providing meals to those hotel guests.  

Many thanks to the individuals and ministries who helped at our dinners or provided baked potatoes, sack lunches, salad fixings, or desserts.  Here is a recap of our ‘Summer’ Season.

• Sun, May 1 – Provided 44 meals to clients in hotels and 29 meals to our ToGo clients. Gardening for God provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.
• Sun, May 15 – Provided 43 meals to clients in hotels and 34 meals to our ToGo clients. Human Concerns provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.
• Sun, June 5 – Provided 38 meals to clients in hotels and 49 meals to our ToGo clients. WOSE 5 provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients
• Sun, Jun 19 – Provided 40 meals to clients in hotels and 44 meals to our ToGo clients. Parishioners provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients
• Sun, Jul 3 – Provided 38 meals to clients in hotels and 40 meals to our ToGo clients. Parishioners provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients
• Sun, July 17 - Provided meals to 33 clients in the hotels, 22 meals to our ToGo clients, and 7 enjoyed dinner in the Parish Center. WOSE 6 generously sponsored this dinner.
• Sun, Aug 7 - Provided 46 meals to clients in hotels and 63 meals to our ToGo clients. Worship Ministry provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.
• Sun, Aug 21 - Provided meals to 44 clients in the hotels, 45 meals to our ToGo clients, and 18 enjoyed dinner in the Parish Center. Men’s Club generously sponsored this dinner.
• Sun, Sep 4 - Provided meals to 45 clients in the hotels, 45 meals to our ToGo clients, and 9 enjoyed dinner in the Parish Center.  Parishioners generously sponsored this dinner.
• Sun, Sep 18 - Provided meals to 33 clients in the hotels, 38 meals to our ToGo clients, and 9 enjoyed dinner in the Parish Center. Food Pantry Ministry generously sponsored this dinner.

We ask for continued prayers for this ministry in these uncertain times. If you would like to help financially, the alms received on the third Sunday of most months benefit St. Edna Community Table or you can send donations directly to the office and indicate that the donation is for SECT.  Outside of the summer season, we have continued to prepare meals for clients staying in local hotels about 2 Sundays a month.  We have set up a web page using SignUp.com to allow interested parishioners to sign up to contribute key items, like baked potatoes, sack lunches, etc. for our dinners.  

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

1) Enter this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: https://signup.com/go/bDdNkgb

2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.

3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com