It’s More than a Meal!

The news can make issues in our community feel unsolvable. We often think that anything we do can’t make a difference.

But if you talk to members of Trinity Lutheran Church, they’ll share how something seemingly small, like a home-cooked meal, matters so much to families.

Doug Doblar has been coordinating meal donations for Home of Hope at the church for over a decade. At the beginning of each year, Doug sends out a sign-up sheet for families and groups to choose a meal. Throughout the year, he checks in with each to make sure they can still provide a meal and emails a thank-you after they donate. 

“We usually send a meal on the fourth Saturday of the month,” Doug explained. “We have families, small groups and staff who are regular contributors.”

For some at Trinity, donating a meal to Home of Hope is an annual tradition. Some choose a day in the same month every year and one church member even celebrates her birthday by bringing a meal to Home of Hope during her birth month.

Raylene Pressley and her husband, Tom, have been donating meals for several years. She first heard about Home of Hope when the church’s Senior Citizens group discussed meal donations.

“I was immediately interested when [I heard they served] women and children, as they both hold a soft spot in my heart,” Raylene said. “I contributed money initially. Then on one occasion, [Home of Hope] needed volunteers to pick up food and deliver it.”

Raylene visited Home of Hope and met some of the staff. Soon after that visit, she told her husband she wanted to start making meals.

“My goal is to prepare something [families] might get in their own homes,” she said. “Not fancy or elaborate, but home-cooked!”

As she’s aged, Raylene can only provide a few meals a year, but she’s happy to jump in and cook an additional meal when she notices a meal date hasn’t been filled.

“I know that some of my family or our friends could find themselves in a situation where they need the help of Home of Hope, and I pray that someone would see fit to provide them a meal,” she shared. 

Like Raylene, Doug Shockley and Trinity Lutheran’s Men’s Breakfast, a group of around 20 men who meet once a month, also look out for Doug Doblar’s emails about Home of Hope’s needs. When they can provide money or a meal, they do!

“Home of Hope is a wonderful organization helping mothers and their children who need and deserve a little help in their lives. We hope this money provides a nourishing meal and a feeling that somebody cares,” Doug said. 

“It is important to give because that is what God tells us we should do. It also makes us feel good that we are giving to such a special group of people.”

Raylene added, “Thank God for Home of Hope and the wonderful service they are providing. When God has given us so many blessings, sharing those blessings is our duty!”