Albion Rotary presents $1,000 check to OK Kitchen

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 June 2023 at 4:29 pm

Provided photo

ALBION – Albion Rotary Club President Alex Krebs, left, presents a check for $1,000 to leaders to the Mike and Faith Smith, leaders of the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen at Harvest Christian Fellowship.

The $1,000 represents the proceeds from Rotary’s St. Patrick’s Ham Dinner in March.

The OK Kitchen started on June 2 last year at Harvest Christian Fellowship on Route 31, across from Bullard Park. The kitchen serves meals from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays.

The OK Kitchen served about 15,200 meals in in first year. In addition to the meal on Thursdays, there is a meal to-go, a frozen meal and an extra bag of food. Faith Smith said her hope is that every person that walks through the door will receive at least 4 days of food with just one stop.

Faith and Mike Smith also deliver meals on Thursday nights to shut-ins that can’t make it to the kitchen. She said they are looking for more people willing to deliver meals on Thursday evenings.

“The need is getting bigger than we expected and our car can only hold some many meals,” Faith Smith said.

The donation from Rotary will be used to purchase paper products, an industrial mixer and many types of to-go containers.

Krebs said she is grateful Rotary could assist the OK Kitchen. She is the founder of the Orleans Community Kitchen that opened in 1994 and led the effort for many years.