by Murrel Bland
Shortly after St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Kansas City, Kan., was founded in 1857, its clergy and their families were feeding starving Wyandotte Indians.
Fast-forward to today. That effort continues with a Saturday morning community breakfast and a pantry that feed the needy.
The Saturday breakfast program, which started in 1998 as a cooperative venture thanks to St. Michael’s and All Angels Church, Mission, serves about 250 persons a week. The pantry, which is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, serves food that is the equivalent of about 2,000 meals a month.
St. Paul’s efforts have focused on being inclusive by cooperating with other community efforts. The church is partnering the with the healthy lifestyles effort which the Unified Government and various health and social services agencies are promoting.
Joe Reardon, who was mayor in 2009, championed this effort when Wyandotte County was ranked last among Kansas counties when it came to health. This ranking came from a study conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Today Wyandotte County has moved to the bottom to 94th among the 101 counties surveyed. Mayor Mark Holland continues to lead this effort.
St. Paul’s, in an effort to serve more healthy food at its breakfast, changed its menu Saturday, Oct. 17. The menu now includes such items as whole-wheat pancakes and turkey sausage. Fruits and vegetables are also offered.
Beau Heyen, who recently became the president of Episcopal Community Services of Kansas City, is helping St. Paul’s make the transition to a more nutritious menu. ECS is an umbrella agency that serves parishes in Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri. One of its major projects is the Kansas City Community Kitchen that serves lunch to about 500 persons each weekday in Kansas City, Mo.
“We want to educate our neighbors on the connection and relationship between diet, exercise and lifestyle and diseases,” the Rev. Dixie Roberts Junk said. She is the priest-in-charge at St. Paul’s. “Long range, St. Paul’s wants to be a source for life skills, job skills and career training.”
For more information or to volunteer, telephone 913-321-3535 or visit [email protected].