In Canyon, groups come together to give free dinners

Thanksgiving came early to the Canyon, with the monthly Canyon Community dinner serving up turkey with all the trimmings last Thursday.

Luann Mohn, who heads up the dinners every month, said that this Thanksgiving dinner was the largest crowd they’ve ever fed. 138 people turned out for the meal, including the volunteers, who are also invited to eat.

The Canyon Community dinners were started three years ago by Vera Smith, a now-retired executive who lives up the Canyon, Mohn said.

“She had the idea and got the pot bubbling, and then came to me,” Mohn said.

Mohn herself became involved with the community dinners through her involvement with the CROP Walk for Hunger, which she organizes, after the group was approached for a donation.

“I wanted to see what it was about before we donated, and that’s how I started,” Mohn said.

After Smith stepped away last January, Mohn drew from her 46 years of experience as a teacher to keep things going and take over the major duties, running the monthly planning and budget meetings.

“Having been a primary school teacher, organizing is what I do,” she said.

“I guess I’m the tactical commander,” she joked, bustling around the Canyon Elementary school kitchen before dinner on Thursday.

But it’s a collaborative movement.

The dinners are all from donations — all food money is donated, by some churches in the area and by local businesses. Volunteers from those same churches as well as others, including the Columbia Falls high school Key Club, come to cook and serve.

All Saints Episcopal Church acts as the financial umbrella for the canyon dinners, handling all of the donated funds under the church’s nonprofit status. The United Methodist Churches of Columbia Falls and Whitefish, as well as Our Savior Lutheran Church, also donate and have members who volunteer for meals. Area grocery stores, including Smith’s and Canyon Foods in Hungry Horse also pitch in.

“Just talking about it has brought people in,” Mohn said, telling of a woman she met at the coffee shop who gave her contact information and said she wanted to volunteer.

“We have a cross-section of people who’ve done all kinds of things,” Mohn said of the volunteers.

When they began, the monthly dinners saw about 30-40 people attending, Mohn estimated. It’s slowly grown, she said, to around 70-80 people coming now. The nearly 140 that came last week was just over the anticipated 100 that Mohn and the rest of the crew of volunteers had prepared for.

Volunteers make an effort to produce nutritional, balanced meals and use as much organic food as possible, Mohn said, adding that there are a lot of women who are excellent cooks.

“I think reaching out and getting groups involved is important, so they can learn to serve others,” Mohn said. “You should never deny someone the ability to volunteer in life. It’s a good opportunity to learn.”

Beyond just a community meal, the monthly dinner has also hosted baby showers for pregnant women. It gave books to the community in February and had a “socktober” last month, where people received socks. Donated items have also been given as Christmas gifts. Leftovers are sent home with families in need, Mohn said.

It is in part about fulfilling a need in the community, but for Mohn, more so about making connections in the community.

“It’s joyful. Making connections with people in the community, is what life’s about,” she said.