Nothing brings people together quite like a hot meal.

For the Trinity Episcopal church that has helped host free community potlucks on Saturdays for the past two decades, this saying rings especially true.

When volunteer and organizer for the free community lunches Gil MacNeill passes along the tables in the dining hall, he sees families, the elderly, youth, the homeless and those just looking for a little company.

What has made more food available more often are the partnerships formed with four other local churches, hich include First Presbyterian, Hope Community, Wesley UMC and Trinity Lutheran.  Each church hosts a lunch on a different Saturday during the month at Trinity, located at 9 S. Fourth St.

What started as a way to feed a small group of people quickly became a tool to host a well-rounded meal that attracted many.

“The attendance  at the lunches went from 12 or 15 up to 75 to 100,” MacNeill said. “They come in and they sit around the table and they talk with other people and have a nice two hour session on Saturday morning.”

The church recently found out that they would be losing one of their hosts. Wesley UMC will have to step down from hosting as of the fourth week in January 2017.

Now Trinity is seeking another organization, church or person looking to help them fill the need.

“We desperately need a church, a group or organization to help us help them,” she said.

The churches serve a variety of hot meals, from corn on the cob with sausages to spaghetti to the much favored pancake lunch.

“It is not like soup and sandwiches, though sometimes they like that,” said Trinity office administrator and one of the lunch organizers Lisa Winquist. “If we do sandwiches it is hot sandwiches.”

It only takes a little to help a lot, Winquist said. An organization can even volunteer to do only one lunch.

“Come observe a lunch in to see what is involved,” she said. “Try a Saturday. See if it works for your group.”

Lunch has become more than just a hot meal for those that pass through the church doors.

“It is a social hour for these people,” Winquist said.

Additionally, the lunches have been embraced by the community. Donations and discounts from grocery stores have long helped to fill the table, as well as the home cooking of the individual churches.

Winquist helps to plan meals sometimes up to six months in advance and always with the notion of making not only enough for everyone, but enough so that there are leftovers to bring home.

The lunches have also been a place where high school students, Boy Scout Troops and many others have come to donate their time by helping to serve the food.

MacNeill opens the church up at 9 a.m. on Saturday and while he goes about helping to prepare for the lunch, he has coffee waiting for those that want to come sit and talk. Lunch is then served at 11:30 a.m. along several tables stretched out along the church’s dining room. There is even a separate table for desserts.

For their part, First Presbyterian Church also brings a band to play music for diners.

Over the years since MacNeill and Winquist have been part of the lunches, they have received a lot of gratitude for what they do.

“They always come over and thank us,” MacNeill said. “ They will say, ‘This is the best lunch I’ve ever had.’”

To volunteer or make donations call (269) 683-6060 or (269) 470-0646.