Mac’s Kitchen completes 7 years of service

Mac’s Kitchen handed out 90 large boxes of food and over 200 hot meals at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Parish as they neared the end of seven successful years of feeding the hungry and less fortunate. Last month, over 90 Turkeys were donated by an anonymous donor to be included with the boxes.

Ronnie Haney had an idea to help the community through her parish and opened Mac’s Kitchenin Jan. 2004. The Kitchen is named after the parish priest at that time, Fr. Robert McEleney, who inspired the idea of feeding the community.

Fr. McEleney was known for his generous giving to those in need. Haney garnered support from her husband, Chuck, several of like-minded friends which included Nanny Watkins from Promised Land Baptist Church, who is a skilled cook, Annie Trent from Jordan Baptist Church, and from members of Springfield Baptist Church and New Jerusalem Baptist Church.

Haney approached Lynchburg’s Daily Bread who gladly offered to help Mac’s Kitchen and have done so all these years.

The volunteers overcame the pandemic restrictions by creating a drive-through system to keep Mac’s Kitchen open. Today, Fr. Jim Gallagher continues to encourage the operation.

Donations for the boxes are provided by local grocery stores, religious organizations and citizens of all denominations. Box contents are partially made up from recipient suggestions.

On Saturday, boxes included a sanitation kit which included toiletries. Some Saturday deliveries have included blankets and other emergency needs.

With Nanny Watkin’s culinary skills and guidance, Mac’s Kitchen cooks their own hot meals to accompany the boxes. In addition to the monthly boxes and hot meals, Daily Bread delivers hot meals every Monday for the Parish to provide to the community. The Saturday and Monday assistance includes deliveries to the assisted living apartments at Dogwood Apartments.

Haney stated, “I was raised to believe that you are part of the community, and as such you were expected to do what you could to better the community. I have been fortunate enough to become acquainted with some amazing people in the community with the same beliefs, and we have worked as a team to make this project come together and continue to thrive. We have all been blessed to be able to assist and get to know members of the community who are in need of our services. The working team of volunteers is what makes Mac’s Kitchen a success.”

Mac’s Kitchen offers drive-through pick-up of hot meals and subsistence boxes every third Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m. Every Monday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., hot meals from Daily Bread are offered by drive-through at Our Lady of Peach Catholic Parish at 2938 Oakleigh Avenue, Appomattox.

Donations, cash or in kind, are always needed. Contact Ronnie Haney on Facebook at: Mac’s Kitchen, Appomattox VA.

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