St. Paul’s Fellowship Café expands beyond Glen Cove

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Glen Cove held a one-time food drive from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 22. Donated boxed pastas, sauces, bags of rice, and canned beans were contributed for the church’s pantry for the Fellowship Cafe. Parishioners and community members drove or walked up to the church where Jonathan Wyatt, St. Paul’s warden and Fellowship Café liaison, and team members stood outside to receive donations.

“It’s just this January because we are running lower than we usually do,” Wyatt explained. “We are just giving it a shot because we are serving so many more people than we used to because of Covid and price increases and job insecurity. A lot of those people are seniors too.” 

St. Paul’s Fellowship Café was founded in 2013 by Wyatt and his wife Tracie, Glen Cove residents. The design for the program came from the Wyatt’s reading about the Fellowship Café at another church. “We owe it to St. Thomas of Farmingdale,” Wyatt said. “They gave us the idea and the advice and away we went.” 

Their mission has been to help bring homecooked meals, groceries and clothes to families in need. The event is held the third Saturday of every month from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Before the pandemic, families and community members would be given an opportunity to enjoy a hot meal together in the church’s hall. When available, clothing would be offered to each visitor for roughly 10 to 25 cents or, for a bundle of four, $1. 

Currently, the program has been a takeout service to enforce social distancing regulations. Visitors can drive or walk up to the parish to receive their goods. For the month of January, the parish has been able to serve 102 meals to families. 

“Our mission is to provide them with a healthy hot meal and treat them like humans,” Wyatt said. “We call it the Fellowship Cafe because you used to come in and sit down and you could talk to people. It was beautiful that way because you would see people from all different cultures sitting together. “

From the start of the program, every meal has been made by Tracie Wyatt. “I want to provide a full balanced meal,” she said. “I love everything about St. Paul’s. I wish I could do it fulltime. I wish I could donate 100 percent.”

Local community businesses have been able to aid in the growth of the program. St. Rocco’s Bakery has been donating bread for the meals. Living Waters for Women, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods in Glen Cove have been able to contribute groceries. And Holiday Farms in Glen Head has helped in providing reusable grocery bags for the carryout meals and groceries. No food goes to waste as any leftovers are given to Living Waters for Women. 

“This is really an important outreach thing for the parish because not every place has something that enables them to reach out beyond their four walls and touch people,” said Father Shawn Williams of St. Paul’s. 

The reach of the program has extended past the borders of Glen Cove. Bill and Cathy Glasgow, residents of Syosset, have been volunteering for the program for nearly five years. “I just like that we are helping people,” Cathy said. “There is a big need in the community. I am kind of grateful that I have the time and I am able to do this.”

“The advantage that we have is while we have parishioners and volunteer that take up half of the spots, we have a number of people from outside of the parish who really don’t have any affiliation or connection with the church, but who heard of it from friends who have gone here,” Williams said.

“I would love to expand it to maybe even twice a month because I think our community certainly needs it especially in these covid times,” Tracie Wyatt said. “It’s all about volunteers. Having volunteers who don’t even belong to St. Paul’s is a testament to what we are doing.”

To help, volunteer or donate to the Fellowship Café, email Tracie or Jonathan Wyatt at Jonwyatt316@yahoo.com.