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.

We ask for continued prayers as this ministry grows. If you would like more information about St. Edna Community Table or if you know of a family in need who would benefit from this ministry, please contact the Parish Office or by email: office@stedna.org

The 2020 Season is Very Different

Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, at the end of March, Journey's had to close its church PADS sites.  Thanks to many generous donations, Journeys was able to house close to 90 homeless clients in two local hotels.  Most of the PADS site churches then began providing three meals a day for the clients living in the hotels.  In May this program (Mobile Meals) was opened up to other groups besides the PADS site churches.  St Edna Community table jumped in to help.  This program is continuing through at least July.

In June, in anticipation of Journey’s not being able to sustain clients in hotels, the churches that provide dinners during the summer decided to start up the program in a ToGo format beginning July 1^st.  This program will run through the month of September.  Instead of serving meals indoors at the various church sites, in the interest of safety, dinners are being provided by the churches in a ToGo format.  Clients can either drive, bike, or walk up to be served.

That is a lot of change for one season, but we have adapted and here is a recap of our events so far.

• On May 1st we were able to provide 64 meals to the PADS clients in the hotels.  We ordered food from Big Ange’s.
• On June 7th we provided meals for 90 PADS clients in the hotels.  We ordered the individual meals from Nino’s.
• On Jun 28th we provided meals for 57 PADS clients in the hotels.  We ordered chicken from Jewel and purchased sides from GFS and assembled meals ourselves.
• On July 5th we provided meals to 52 PADS clients in the hotels and an additional 25 clients who came through our SECT dinner drive through.  Again, we ordered chicken from Jewel and purchased sides from GFS and assembled the meals ourselves.  We also reached out to Gardening for God who provided pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.
• On July 19th we provided meals to 50 PADS clients in the hotels and an additional 30 clients who came through our SECT dinner drive through. WOSE 5 generously provided pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.
• On Aug 2nd we provided meals to 50 PADS clients in the hotels and an additional 53 clients who came through our SECT dinner drive through.  WOSE 4 and Human Concerns generously provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.
• On Aug 16th we provided meals to 50 PADS clients in the hotels and an additional 60 clients who came through our SECT dinner drive through.  Worship Ministrey generously provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.
• On Sep 6th we provided meals to 38 PADS clients in the hotels and an additional 59 clients who came through our SECT dinner drive through.  WOSE 6 and several enthusiastic parishioners generously provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.
• On Sep 20th we provided meals to 49 PADS clients in the hotels and an additional 62 clients who came through our SECT dinner drive through.  The choir generously provided baked potatoes for our dinners and pre-packed lunches for our ToGo clients.