Typically the saying goes, “Third time’s a charm” but for the summer food site provided through RWS Family Life and Youth Learning (RWS) in Commerce City, the saying must be altered. This is their first year as a food site and they have been incredibly successful, especially on Saturday. As a self-sponsored site, they make their own food in the church (Light of Life Church) across the street from Monaco Park and serve the food under a park pavilion.
It has only been this week, since some area schools began, that the daily lunch numbers dipped below 100. Saturdays have remained the busiest day of the week, which can probably be attributed to the small number of sites that provide meals on the weekends and the fact that more families are home on weekends.
The staff of volunteers, including Cora Sudds, Kierra Morrison, Delevia Grace, Elizabeth Cozad, Laval Grace, Mother Sharon Lee, Angela Grace and Dea Johnson, welcome the families and build relationships. Those relationships come to view with every smile as they call each person by name. They know the stories of the families who attend the meals. Laval Grace, the chef, even knows which days particular families will come; he knows which meals on his menu are preferred by the different families.
During my visit, I watched as children finished their meals and ran to the nearby playground while the parents supervised from under the comfort of the pavilion. The atmosphere was more of a neighborhood BBQ than a feeding program, as families milled around even after the meal was eaten.
Before clean-up finsished, children received a snack and then returned home or to the playground. Many children came on their own, a testament to the trust that parents have in this food site staff.
Thank you for inviting the neighborhood to such a wonderful, healthy BBQ.