BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Dawn Fenner sees him daily — and feeds him daily — breakfast and lunch, each meal coming with a side order of friendship and understanding.
The physically disabled man looks to be around 40. He was long in search of disability payments from the government that were not coming; the goodness of life a perpetual stranger.
The man didn’t have much.
What he had was the Essentials Café.
“He donated $1,200 to the café. He had finally gotten his disability payment and said he wanted to do something for us for helping him."Dawn Fenner, board member, Essentials Café, Bethlehem
“This story brought me to tears,” Fenner, a café board member, said on Moravian Day of Giving, the annual March 4 event that encourages generosity and unity among Moravians in North America.
“So he comes in every day to eat, and uses a walker,” Fenner said. “Then one day last week, he came in and said, ‘Dawn, I need to talk to you.’
"I thought something might have gone wrong.”
Fenner turned away, collected her emotions and smiled.
“He donated $1,200 to the café,” she said. “He had finally gotten his disability payment and said he wanted to do something for us for helping him.
"I gave him a big hug and started crying.
“Now he still comes in every day, but now he pays for his meal and also for a meal for others. That’s the kind of community we try to create here at the café.”
The story gave Fenner a lump in her throat.
The giving must continue.
Essentials Café needs our help.
'Goes beyond needing a meal'
The West Side Moravian Church’s latest ministry, at 418 Third Ave., provides freshly made breakfast and lunch, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, at no charge to feed those without the means to pay.
“We do this to help alleviate food insecurity in the Lehigh Valley. But it’s also a place for our guests to sit down and have a conversation with someone that otherwise they would not."Essentials Cafe board member Dawn Fenner
“We do this to help alleviate food insecurity in the Lehigh Valley,” Fenner said. “But it’s also a place for our guests to sit down and have a conversation with someone that otherwise they would not.
“The need for some of our guests goes beyond needing a meal.”
The café also is open to everyone, including those who have the means to pay for their own meal and, hopefully, donate a bit extra to defray the costs of meals for the less fortunate.
A donation to the café on Moravian Day of Giving will go a long way toward paying for the 400 nutritious meals served each week.
Donations can be made by going to the Moravian Ministries Giving Portal at mmfa.com/giving-portal. Scroll down the page to Essentials Café and follow the instructions.
Donations also can be made by mail to Moravian Ministries Foundation of America, Suite 305, 119 Brookstown Ave., Winston-Salem, North Carolina 271012.
Checks should be made payable to MMFA and indicate in the memo line the gift is for Essentials Café.
What’s more, the MMFA and anonymous donors will match up to $2,500 for gifts made on March 4 to Essential Café.
Another way to donate is through the cafe’s Wooden Nickel program. Stop by the café and pay $12 for a wooden nickel that a needy person can redeem for a nourishing meal.
'It's challenging'
The café is supported by 120 volunteers who have collectively contributed more than 6,000 hours in a year in various roles, including greeters, servers and gardeners.
It's also supported by folks who stop in for a meal, pay for their own, then pay for a meal for someone who can't afford one.
Friends Maria Schaller of Coopersburg and Amy Beaudet of Bethlehem were first-time visitors to the café on Moravian Day of Giving.
“We’ll be back. This is a wonderful program for those who just need some help.”Maria Schaller of Coopersburg
After enjoying breakfast, the women paid for their meals and also for meals for those who are less fortunate.
“We’ll be back,” Schaller said. “This is a wonderful program for those who just need some help.”
But with the rising price of food, particularly eggs, the challenge of feeding those in need has escalated.
“We’ve been open for a year and a couple of months,” Fenner said. “But in that time, the need for folks who are food-insecure has doubled. The cost of living has flared up.
“Eggs are very expensive. We go through 16 dozen a week. But we don’t want to take eggs off the menu because that’s a protein folks might not otherwise get. It’s challenging.”
On this Moravian Day of Giving, the cost of providing meals to those who are hungry is great.
The cost of not having a place like Essentials Café is greater.
Food for thought.
