Staff photo / Bob Coupland
Eleanor Clower of Hartford, right, receives a meal from Diane Lewis of Cortland, front left, at the monthly God Provides a Meal served the third Saturday of each month at Cortland United Methodist Church. Helping to serve the meals are Micki Semroc of Cortland, center, and Donna Pate of Cortland.

“God Provides a Meal” members prepare the meal and set the tables on the Friday before the meal, which is served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church, 150 High St., year round.

Leslie Bebech of Mecca, who coordinates the free lunch, said anyone is welcome to attend.

“Many of the women of the church volunteer and help prepare the food,” Bebech said.

She said they get more than 85 people some months.

Bebech said meals range from stuffed pork chops, sloppy joes, vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

She said a sign is posted letting people know what the menu for the next month will be.

“It makes my heart feel good that people can come into the church for a meal and spend time with others,” Bebech said.

She said she started the monthly meals many years ago at the Mecca United Methodist Church and when she began attending the Cortland church, she asked the pastor if she could begin hosting the God Provides a Meal event there.

The meals began in September 2023.

“I paid for the food for the first three to four months to get it started here. Now it supports itself. The meals are free, but we do accept donations, which are not required,” Bebech said.

She said in addition to making sure people have a good meal, it is also about fellowship with others,

“There are some who come for the meal and others who come for the fellowship or both. This gives people something to look forward to each month especially around the holidays. We welcome all different faiths here and encourage people to sit and meet others,” Bebech said.

She said for the food preparation on Fridays, she has four to five volunteers helping. That number increases to between six and nine on Saturdays for the meal itself, with both men and women assisting.

Cindy Bratek of Bazetta said, “This to me is an awesome chance to serve the community and provide a good cooked meal to people.”

Bratek said she has helped on both Fridays and Saturdays.

“I know many people come each month and tell us they like the fellowship and spending time with others. I think different meals bring out different people. If it is something they like and know about ahead of time, they can decide to be here,” Bratek said.

The Jan. 17 meal is vegetable beef soup and a toasted cheese sandwich.

Enjoying a meal recently were Lynette and Bob Metzendorf of Fowler.

”This is the first one we have attended. Some friends of ours told us about it. We wanted to see what it was like,” Lynette said.

Bob Metezendorf said because of the cold and snowy weather, they have been at home a lot and wanted to get out for a while and thought the lunch at the church would be a nice event.

Peggy Peters of Howland said she has been attending the lunches often and everyone she has met is very friendly and welcoming.

“I see several of the same people each month that I have met, so we sit together,” Peters said.

Helping to serve the meals was Samantha Wood of Fowler, who is a National Honor Society student at Joseph Badger High School.

She said she and other students often attend the lunches to get community service hours.