St. John’s Episcopal Church on Lafayette Avenue in Palmerton volunteers hit their 50-year mark of making free community meals for the public this October.

For the past 50 years, St. John’s Episcopal Church has been making a free community meal the third Thursday of each month. The meals are very hearty. They are a cooked meal of meat, potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. Desserts and drinks are included. There is takeout available as well as eat in.

The high rise in Palmerton ordered 16 dinners for takeout on this day.

Kathy and Stan Jacob come every Thursday, once a month for this meal. “They are great cooks. They do a great job,” Kathy said.

That’s why members do the meal. Jane Fuller said, “We enjoy doing this. We are making people happy.”

Paula Seiler has been the backbone of the meal since 1990. She does the ordering of the food, paper work, and planning the meals. Seiler said, “When the free meals first started, it was a way for fellowship of people that had no one to eat with. We served 60 to 80 meals back then. Now we serve 160 to 200. For Thanksgiving it is usually about 275. I thank Karen Beltz for volunteering her time and all of our wonderful members. The Episicol Church is a member of CACPAC, and Second Harvest. We receive support from the Community especially at Thanksgiving. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s a real blessing for us to be able to do this.” Seiler looks forward to being back at her post very soon.

The Thanksgiving Meal will be from noon to 2 p.m. on Nov. 26.

The next free community meal will be from 4 to 6 p.m. on Dec.17.