Every second, third, and fourth Wednesday of the month, Canton residents can get a free meal at the United Methodist Church on Court Street. Church members, community groups, and sports teams and First Year Programs from St. Lawrence cook and serve food for between 60-120 people.
The Free Will Dinners—so named to avoid the stigma of the term “soup kitchen”—were started about ten years ago by Methodist Church member Carlton Doane. About to retire from his career as a corrections counselor, Doane wanted to volunteer and so decided to begin serving meals from his church, starting with one Wednesday dinner per month and working up to three Wednesday dinners per month. “The number of meals served since the start of the Free Will Dinners is approaching 45,000,” said Doane.

Doane recognizes various community groups as being integral to the Free Will Dinners—the Rotarians, Lion’s Club, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services). After working at Wednesday night dinners for her FYP, Bridget Heaton ’11, came back to work as the volunteer coordinator for St. Lawrence students working at Free Will Dinners. Students from the FYP “Having an Impact” have been logging hours, along with various sports teams and campus groups.

The food that is prepared comes largely from community generosity. Every three days, the two Stewart’s Shops in Canton donate bread and beverage products, often several gallons of milk. The P&C gives a $25 gift certificate each month. The Food Bank of Central New York, out of Syracuse, also provides donations of food.

Perhaps the most important function of the Free Will Dinners, besides providing people with meals, is the social network they provide. The Free Will Dinners are not just served in the basement of the Methodist Church, but also in several households in Canton. Fifty Wednesdays of the year, meals are delivered to between 15 and 30 families in Canton—families that are unable, for various reasons, to leave their homes. While the food is appreciated, it is often equally as important that these relatively isolated people have someone checking in on them regularly.

When asked about what he sees as needed services in Canton and St. Lawrence County, Doane said that it is hard to know. “People are proud,” he said, “They don’t want to ask for help.” He identified transportation as something that definitely needs improvement. Senior citizens living in rural areas need food and medications, and often have no way of getting out to obtain them, and are, again, too proud to ask for help.

The Free Will Dinners accept donations for guests willing and able to pay. At the start of the dinners ten years ago, donations averaged $2 per diner, and now $0.35 per diner is “doing quite well,” according to Doane. Rather than being annoyed by this decrease in donations, Doane was understanding, “It means we’re serving people that really need it,” he said.

Related Posts