Canby Herald Online

A MEAL that MATTERS

St. Vincent de Paul's mobile kitchen has found a home in Canby every Thursday

• By: John Baker  
• Published: 11/18/2009 1:36:15 PM
• Last Updated: 11/18/2009 1:53:03 PM

Photo By: Ray HugheyCreating the meal
Charles Ashcroft gets the kitchen going before serving Thursday's meal at the Canby Center.

Take an old school bus, turn it into a rolling restaurant for the hungry and what do you have?
“A blessing,” according to Ronell Warner, director of the Canby Center.

Through a partnership with St. Vincent de Paul, the mobile kitchen rolls into Canby every Thursday at noon to serve free hot meals for two hours to those who can’t get one.
It’s a hint of hope for many people who may not see much hope in their current circumstances.

On Thursday, that hint of hope included a Spanish rice dish, green salad, cake and flavored water.

“St. Vincent de Paul turned it (the old school bus) into a certified kitchen and created a dining area inside the bus,” said Warner. “It’s not a soup kitchen at all and it addresses the hunger while protecting people’s dignity.”

Charles Ashcroft has been working with St. Vincent de Paul for 24 years and has done just about every job they have. When the idea of the motorized kitchen first came up, he was tabbed to make it happen.
And with a background in food service years ago, it was a challenge he relished taking on.

“I do the driving and the cooking — I do it all,” Ashcroft said while taking a break outside the Canby Center. “It’s a great feeling to help people in need.”

The Canby Center has been working with St. Vincent de Paul’s mobile kitchen since late spring.
The bus, which can seat between 15 and 18 diners, travels around Clackamas County — Sandy, Estacada and Molalla to name a few — to fill hungry bellies and has partnered with the center for a stop at Baldock rest area south of Wilsonville along Interstate 5 since the summer.

“Baldock falls within the Canby School District, so that’s our service area,” said Warner, who added that the kitchen served 20 to 30 families living in some state of homelessness at
View Larger Map">Baldock rest area.
Ashcroft put the number as high as 40.
With an increase in situational homelessness throughout the county, the need for the meals locally became very apparent.

“It wasn’t hard to get them here, we just needed to wait until there was an opening on their schedule,” Warner said of the mobile kitchen.

When an opening in the schedule occurred, Thursday hot meals in Canby became a reality.
Ashcroft said the response to the first mobile kitchen visit Nov. 5 was a good one, with 51 people stopping by for a meal. While Ashcroft cooks the food, volunteers at each site help take orders and bring food to those who need it.

Volunteers, said Ashcroft, are at the heart and soul of the mobile kitchen. Another key element is that the kitchen turns no one away that needs a meal.

There is no ID check, no judgment of appearance — if you need a meal, Ashcroft and his volunteers will provide it.

“I don’t know what people’s circumstances are and that’s not what’s important here,” he said. “What’s important is that when people get a hot meal in their belly, they are happy — and that makes me happy. If you’re hungry, you’re hungry. That’s all that matters.

“One of the other things we have here are what we call ‘kids packs’ that are for kids ages 3 to 18 and they contain about a two-day supply of food to help them get by,” Ashcroft added.

Ashcroft said that he will continue to stop at the Baldock rest area each Thursday after his stop at the Canby Center. The need there, he said, continues to be great and there are plenty of regulars to attend to.

And with winter coming on and unemployment above 10 percent in Oregon, the need should persist.

“Have you seen the lines at our food banks?” Warner asked rhetorically. “They are astronomical. We decided we wanted to try the kitchen in Canby.

“This is a hot meal, it’s free and is open to anyone who wants a meal,” she added. “There is such a big need in the area and it’s so dignified in the way they do it. We’re excited about it.”

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