Methodist Church Free Lunch Program

The Methodist Free Lunch Program has provided a free lunch for the community continuously since 1995.  Our main goal is to provide a freshly cooked meal in our dining room for anyone who would like to take part.  We invite everyone, regardless of race, gender, religion, or socioeconomic status.  We are open every Tuesday and Thursday.  Although the program is run by the Florence United Methodist Church, we never proselytize.

Our program is organized so that there are ten groups who take turns cooking and serving once a month.  Our kitchen is licensed by the Lane County Health Department, so we ask all food handlers to get a Lane County Food Handler’s permit.  Likewise, to maintain Health Department standards, all food needs to be prepared in our church kitchen or another licensed kitchen.  Most people eat in our dining room but we also offer to-go portions if requested.

From surveys conducted of our guests we identified a need in the community for shower, laundry, and gas vouchers.  To try to fill this identified need, we offer these vouchers on request.  Only the Free Lunch Coordinator, the Pastor, and specially trained people from the Methodist Church are allowed to give out the vouchers.  They are only given out during Free Lunch.  People can request one shower and one laundry voucher per week.  They are redeemable at Linda’s 37^th Street Laundry.  People can request one gas voucher per month.  They must have a valid driver’s license and vehicle registration for a gas card.  The gas vouchers are good only at Safeway and only for gasoline.