Listening through the indistinct chatter that filled the basement of St. John’s Lutheran Church, one could easily sense an air of sadness as the final Feed Medical Lake event wrapped up and long-time friends parted ways.
For more than a decade, Joanna Williams and her band of trusty volunteers have been serving up homemade meals and distributing groceries to those in need across the West Plains. As of July 2024, the program Joanna operated under, Feed Medical Lake, will no longer support the area.
“We closed down because the St. John’s Lutheran Church Council said we had to close down,” Williams said when asked about why the program shuttered. “We had no say in it, and I really don’t know why because (the council) has not talked with us about it.”
Williams formed Feed Medical Lake after overcoming multiple medical challenges related to a battle with aggressive cancer. In 2001, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center doctors found a tumor on the back of her left leg, stretching from Williams’ knee to her hip and threatening her life. She was immediately flown to Seattle for treatment and turned to her faith to navigate the journey.
“They told my pastor at the time that I had two weeks to live, maybe four,” Williams said. “So when (the) doctors told me how aggressive it was…I had to put my life entirely in God’s hands because there was nothing I could do. I said, ‘Lord, if you have work for me to do, I’ll live.’”
Williams returned home and was in remission until she experienced further issues related to cancer in 2005, which resulted in amputation. It would be another five years before she came across the catalyst for Feed Medical Lake, a listing for Feed Cheney in the Cheney Free Press. Attending the event in late 2010, Williams returned to a former pastor and his wife at her church who encouraged her to set up her own program.
“I took $105 of my own money that I couldn’t afford to take, five dollars to keep the bank account open, $50 for the health department permit, and I had $50 left for a meal,” Williams said, recalling how she started the program. “With that $50…I bought some ingredients for a pot of soup and some sandwiches, and I served 89 meals that first time.”
More than 18,230 meals later, current pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church Greg Yeager said the decision to shutter Feed Medical Lake was made by church leadership, and in its place, the church would host Meals On Wheels Greater Spokane County’s Silver Cafe.
Under the program, anyone age 60 and older can receive a hot meal and socialize with other attendees once a week. While participants are encouraged to donate five dollars, anyone eligible for Silver Cafe can eat regardless of their ability to pay. According to St. John’s Lutheran Church’s Facebook page, the program will begin in August and offer a free meal every Wednesday. No food distribution services will be provided by St. John’s Lutheran Church moving forward.
Pastor Yeager said the decision was made after Williams “started talking about throttling back from Feed Medical Lake.” Other factors included difficulties recruiting church volunteers to support the program and dwindling socialization rates following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re trying to tailor our ministries to helping people so that they can get better, and by helping people socialize so they can make friends,” Pastor Yeager said. “It’s been for a while that social aspect has been missing from Feed Medical Lake. What we want to have when we start hosting our evenings is to have more social events.”
With the closure of Feed Medical Lake, Williams is taking the summer off to regroup and dream up the next iteration of her community food security program. Until it takes shape, Williams said she remains concerned about food insecurity impacting vulnerable community members, many of whom are friends Williams gained through Feed Medical Lake, until replacement programs are established.
“The light just went off the other day, and I realized we don’t have to serve food,” Williams said. “We can keep the name, we can keep the Facebook page, and we can find other ways to serve. That’s what we’re going to be working on, and it may only be three or four times a year, but by golly, I’m determined we’re going to do it.” In total, Williams said Feed Medical Lake distributed 106 tons of food to community members and logged more than 20,000 volunteer hours. Anyone facing food insecurity across the West Plains can dial 211 to access social support services like free meal sites, personal hygiene items, domestic violence support, and more. The Feed Medical Lake Facebook page also posts links to social support services and healthy recipes that are easy to make.
Founder Joanna Williams pages through a homemade scrapbook documenting previous meals served by Feed Medical Lake.
