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“Everybody does better when everybody does better.” Jim Hightower, radio host
Several weeks ago, The New York Times focused on Fargo’s charm and revitalization .
One photo featured the Heart & Soul food truck. Although I haven’t served on the truck, I have helped with a related service called the “Lunch Bunch,” both led by director Leola Daul.
The day before Thanksgiving, volunteers from the Lunch Bunch, Heart & Soul and First Presbyterian Church gathered to prepare hundreds of individual meals to distribute in the community: turkey or ham, stuffing, cheesy mashed potatoes, and corn, along with cranberry sauce and dessert. We met at Square One Rental Kitchens, a bright windowed space with wood cabinets and stainless-steel. An assembly line of workers filled the containers, sealed them with reheating instructions and tucked them into boxes. Another group showed up for deliveries. Hope Blooms brightened the meals with beautiful flowers.
More meals were served on Thanksgiving Day itself.
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Many organizations serve during holidays. This is wonderful, of course. But I’m grateful for organizations like Heart & Soul and the Lunch Bunch that help year-round or nearly so.
I first heard about Heart & Soul through a former student, Heidi King. Heart & Soul is part of a national network called “One World Everybody Eats.” This organization encompasses nearly 50 cafes and food trucks nationally, from Colorado to North Carolina. One group even serves in Ukraine. On its website, the mission is ”dedicated to increasing food security and building community through the pay-what-you-can nonprofit restaurant model. ” Given that Cass County alone has nearly 10,000 food insecure people, it is an important resource.
For Daul, building community is a deep value. She says, “We all have a lot more in common than we’re different. When you sit down you find commonality over a meal,” a lesson she learned at her parents’ table, often filled with guests and lively conversation.
After positions in early childhood, Daul started her first Heart & Soul pop-up in 2016, believing that “everybody should have the opportunity to have a good meal.” She also liked the idea of supporting local foods and local people, who sometimes had more gifts than funds.
With Covid, Heart & Soul partnered with organizations to bring their truck into varied neighborhoods in open-air venues.
Months ago, I made simple cards, but I decided I wanted to work in the kitchen, with the Lunch Bunch, which is aimed more at the poor and underserved. I enjoy the hands-on experience and the banter as we make sandwiches of cheese and lunch meat. Our assembly line then regroups to pack brown-bag lunches including fresh produce, cookies and encouraging cards, with messages like “Have a great day!” or “You are loved!”
Years ago, I volunteered in Detroit’s rough Cass Corridor, and later my husband and I used a food bank that gave only unhealthy food, past expiration. The fact that diverse groups rave over the quality and nutrition at Heart & Soul/Lunch Bunch is a real bonus. Under Daul’s leadership, with help from individuals like Rev. Mary Holtey and Jane Mathew, I find a group that joyfully nurtures “heart and soul.”
Interested in a broad range of issues, including social and faith issues, Brickner serves as a regular contributor to the Forum’s opinion page. She is a retired English instructor, having taught in Michigan and Minnesota.
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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.
