FREE LUNCH; NO STRINGS

SPRINGDALE — Everybody enjoys a reserved seat at the Samaritan Community Center Cafe. And the meal comes free - including tip.

“A smile is what we take,” said volunteer Mary Ann Heger.

The Samaritan Community Center offers no-cost, no-questions asked meals Tuesday and Thursday in Springdale, and, beginning March 4, also Monday.

Area restaurants - including Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Mimi’s Cafe, Pizza Hut, Noodles, Old Tyme Donuts - donate the fare. Patrons enjoyed nine different meals in February - from burgers to shrimp gumbo to chicken alfredo to chili dogs and macaroni and cheese.

“And if we don’t have any donations, I make it from scratch,” said Fred Krause, volunteer chef.

“And I’ve done that a lot.”

“There are no trays, no lines,” said Elisa Pulido, the cafe’s coordinator. “And that makes us unique.”

Volunteers serve as cooks and wait staff, bringing all-you-can-eat plates of hot food to diners, fi lling tea and water glasses, delivering dessert and clearing tables.

“They need someone to cater to them,” Pulido said of the diners, who might be facing tough times.

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

The meals are more than just a free lunch.

“This place changes lives,” Heger said. “It’s about relationships.”

“We’re like a family,” said David Creger of Springdale, who, for about 10 years, has arrived whenever the community center opens its doors. “I didn’t show up, and they were worried about me. They came to see me in the hospital.”

“I like meeting new people and visiting with friends,” said Martin Bernard, another regular.

“The Holy Spirit is all up in this place,” Creger continued. “The love that’s here.

“The bottom line: It’s love that makes a diff erence,” he said.

“Amen,” Pulido added.

The patrons and the volunteers interact each day at the cafe.

Sometimes, chef Krause delivers the food himself. In return, diners will poke their heads into the kitchen and say, “Thanks, Fred.

That was a good meal.”

“Anything that man cooks is good,” Bernard said.

“And you can’t ask for better people,” said diner Carolyn Jordan of Springdale.

The personal, family-style relationship helps the community center’s staff better serve those in need. “They might be in need of resources that, if we don’t communicate, we don’t know about,” Pulido said.

“That’s one thing we really stress to our volunteers,” she continued.

“It’s not just food; it’s also the resources.”

NEED FOR FEED

The Springdale cafe feeds roughly 300 people a day - 450 during the summer when kids are out of school. That’s more than 57,000 meals a year in two locations.

The cafe serves many people in the surrounding community, who walk to the center. Others travel via Ozark Transit bus, which stops at the front door.

A group of workers at the adjacent George’s processing plant walk to the Samaritan Center in Harps Plaza North. Although their lunch break starts about the time the cafe closes, the volunteers always save them food.

“We make sure they get a hot meal,” said Joe Dukeshire, one of the cafe’s few staff. “And they eat until they are full.”

Pulido said the Samaritan leaders knew they needed to serve another day in Springdale because the Rogers cafe, which is open four days a week, serves only about 1,000 more plates.

They chose Monday to serve because, of the other soup kitchens in the area, the cafe will be the only one serving Monday, Pulido said.

With that addition, hot meals are served fi ve days a week in Springdale.

“Now they don’t have to worry and wait until Tuesday to get a meal,” Pulido said.

The struggling economy and high gasoline prices put a pinch on many people. Even if they are not going hungry, the lunch is one less meal about which they have to worry. They can put there money elsewhere, Pulido said.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

A restaurant can’t run without workers; the cafe can’t run without volunteers.

Pulido reported employees at Tyson Foods world headquarters serve each Tuesday. And if the volunteer ranks fall short, she can call and a manager will round up more.

And Krause’s volunteer position seems nearly full time, as he takes deliveries and opens the kitchen for three ladies who volunteer their time to bake desserts.

“It’s my way of giving back to the community,” said Krause, a retired Navy cook.“The Lord wants me to do it.”

“I was always interested in the feeding aspect,” said Peggy Walker, who fi lls plates in the kitchen. “I went online, and there it was. It was meant to be.”

But to serve meals Monday, more volunteers are needed - eight to 12 a day. Volunteers can register on the Samaritan Community Center Web site or email Pulido.

“The Holy Spirit nudged my heart,” said Heger of her volunteer experience. “I love these people.”