Lansford's Feed the People program is hoping the draw of fellowship and camaraderie will whip away the stigma of coming to the community kitchen.

"It doesn't matter who you are, if you can't make dinner on a Wednesday, just come in. We don't turn people away. They are afraid of the stigma, but this is a community place. It's all about fellowship," said board member Monica Akins."If you're feeling the stretch on your dollar, it can be embarrassing. We're not a soup kitchen. We are a community kitchen," said director and founder Rita Marie Trucios. "Fellowship is so important. It's vital in the wintertime."The program originally started as a mobile soup kitchen in the area, hopping from location to location until settling into St. John's Evangelist Lutheran Church on East Abbott Street."We are so pleased to have them here," said Pastor Marjorie Keiter."The church has been wonderful," said Trucios. "The Trinity church was having problems finding the space for us."The program serves the community a monthly dinner on the third Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the fellowship hall on the Tunnel Street entrance."We've been served over 17,000 in the last four years but have had trouble getting the word out. This year we had a volunteer take fliers out and put them around the community."According to Trucios, the kitchen works hard to prepare and serve only fresh-cooked foods."We always cook fresh food and veggies. Nutritionally you lose out on quality in prepackaged food."Local bakers have now stepped forward to create cakes for the monthly meals.The nonprofit program originally started in 2012 by community members after volunteering at an emergency food pantry whereTrucios noticed the increase of population for people who need help."Shepherd House does an incredible job. But you only get three days of food per person. What about the rest of the week?""Sometimes people face medical billsversus food. Money doesn't always stretch far enough. That's when we started discussing providing food the rest of the month."Part of the issue with pantries is confinement to particular counties."Someone from Schuylkill can't always get help. Emergency pantries have even started to get their funding cut."Trucios said the residents ofLansford have the dedication and the desire to work but lack of jobs and public transportation are keeping people from making enough money to take care of their families."We have real talent in this town. But if a car breaks down, you can't get to work. There are no means of public transportation."Originally from Brooklyn, Trucios has persuaded a group of out-of-state friends to donate funds to help keep the kitchen running."We are starting to have a little community support now. We are having some funding issues. Living costs are up and Social Security isn't enough."To combat costs the program does its best to raise funds through basket auctions."We had to decide we couldn't serve two times a month. There is just not enough support," she said. "We are determined to survive regardless."Food donations and volunteer efforts are helping keep the program running."We can't store food, so we buy as we cook. We can't take advantage of sales because we don't have storage," she said."The volunteers are incredible. We had a woman who used to serve while using her walker. She would put trays right on the walker and carry them over to the tables.""It's not like a job. You want to do it, it's very warming," Akins said.Trucios said she hopes to get local teens involved in the program "It'd be great to get them involved in some community service, let them know they can make a difference."Anyone wanting to help or donate should contact Trucios at 570-657-1480, or come in for the next dinner March 16 from 5 to 6:30 p.m., where the kitchen will serve ham and shepherd's pie in honor of St. Patrick's day.