PITTSFIELD, Maine — Friday morning, David Hunt came to The Welcome Table hungry.
Out of work, waiting to be confirmed as disabled, suffering from breathing difficulties in the cold air, Hunt was discouraged and dejected.
But three bowls of beef stew, a half-loaf of homemade bread, three cups of coffee, two cookies and a glass of iced tea later, David Hunt was full, in both spirit and body.
“That was just like my mother used to make,” he said, rubbing his full belly. There was an even bigger bonus: Volunteers handed Hunt a large container of stew and more bread to take home with him.
For the first time in a long time, he said, Hunt sat and had conversation during lunch. He was surrounded by laughter, people playing cards, making puzzles, reading magazines. He was waited on and served.
“I’ve been having a hard time,” he said. “This is such a good idea. I would probably not have eaten today but for this place.”
The Welcome Table, a completely volunteer- and donation-run warming center and free lunch program, debuted Friday. More than two dozen visitors and volunteers filled the kitchen and dining room of the First Universalist Church, enjoying lunch and each other’s company.
At one table, a volunteer and Richard Beaulieu were engrossed in a hot game of checkers. At another table, Town Councilor Louise Baker and a half-dozen women were playing Skip-Bo.
Mary Gaeta, a Sebasticook Valley Hospital volunteer, showed up with a box full of smoke detectors and passed them out — free.
The program organizers, who have been working on the idea for months, stood back and beamed.
The program’s first meal was staffed by the GE Securities Co. Volunteer Team.
Volunteer John McGarvey of Stetson was working in the kitchen before his second shift at the GE factory. “This program is much more important than just the socialization for the visitors or a hot meal. It is about showing that someone cares.”
The idea for The Welcome Table began during a church planning retreat last fall. Minister Margaret Beckman said the idea of providing a warm place and feeding people seemed to fit with the church’s mission of building community and being helpful. “There were no naysayers anywhere,” she said. “Everyone we have talked to jumped on board.”
Community organizer Trudy Ferland of Pittsfield took that idea and turned it into action, gathering enough volunteers for an administrative team and coordinating which team serves on what Friday.
Beckman said the program is “quintessential Maine: When the going gets tough, people pool what they have and make more.”
GE Security volunteers began making beef stew on Thursday night. Team Leader Kirsten Lundstrom of Hermon baked 17 loaves of bread. All of the food was donated by GE employees.
Each Friday, another team from another civic group or business will take a turn preparing the meal.
“This is a very usable space,” Beckman said. “This project goes well beyond just the food. This showed that this community can pull together and work together and makes it easier to mobilize for other projects. I think this project has energized the entire community.”
Marjorie Beaulieu of Pittsfield came to The Welcome Table with her husband, Richard. “I’m really active in the senior citizens,” she said. “We older folks, retirees, we have to keep busy. We can’t just sit and look at the same four walls.”
Inez Pomerleau of Pittsfield said she raised four children by herself. After she retired and they had all grown up, however, she found herself at loose ends. “If I couldn’t come here and socialize like this, I’d just sit home and be alone.”
Beaulieu said she was going to go back to her other senior citizen groups and spread the word about The Welcome Table. “This is just so wonderful,” she said.
The Welcome Table is open from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Friday at the First Universalist Church on Easy Street in Pittsfield. The church will provide the meal on Jan. 16, and the ARTS Club of Pittsfield will serve on Jan. 23.
For more information about forming a volunteer team or participating, contact Trudy Ferland, 487-6523.