Since 2009, Rebecca’s Cafe has been serving lunch to those experiencing food insecurity in Statesboro, and its reach has slowly grown. Since April of 2022, the Cafe has doubled its former reach of 100 to more than 200 patrons served each week.
“The pace really picked up once people realized what we were offering,” Rebecca's Cafe president Ann Henderson said. "Many of our patrons come and pick up lunches, and some patrons we deliver the lunches to them if they don’t have transportation.”
Rebecca’s Cafe is a weekly service that offers sack lunches free of charge to the food insecure of Statesboro. Volunteers pack the lunches at First Presbyterian Church on Wednesdays and hand them out between noon and 1pm.
Volunteers come from groups including Magnolia Missionary Baptist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Trinity Episcopal Church, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Statesboro, the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro, Pittman Park United Methodist Church, and First Presbyterian Church.
“We don’t ask questions,” said Henderson. “We serve a free meal to anybody who needs it.”
Rebecca’s Cafe continuously works to improve its cooking methods and offerings for its meals, as well.
“We change sometimes,” Henderson said. “We started out with chips, and now we serve peanut butter and crackers for a snack. We serve two sandwiches, a fruit, crackers, and a dessert. And occasionally, if we get extra donations, we will add other things.”
During Thanksgiving week, the Cafe went on a brief hiatus due to most volunteers being out of town, but it is once again up and running to serve those in need.
“We served the week before [Thanksgiving], and we put a note in our bags saying that we would not be able to serve that week, unfortunately,” Henderson said. “But now we’re back in full force.”
If you wish to help fund the fight against food insecurity or would like more information on how to get involved with Rebecca's Cafe, you can reach out to Ann Henderson at [email protected].
