Contacts & Publisher

Subscription Form

Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  Matchan Center has served thousands in its 25 years

by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published December 25, 2009

PONTIAC — The idea of a place for those in need to have a couple hot meals a week started more than a quarter of a century ago, after statistics revealed Pontiac was a pocket of poverty in the heart of wealthy Oakland County.

Three members of the Oakland County Society of St. Vincent de Paul set out to open a soup kitchen in Pontiac, scoping out several locations before finding a good fit in, coincidentally, what had been the cafeteria and gymnasium of St. Frederick School at St. Vincent de Paul Parish school, then recently closed. They served their first meal May 14, 1984; founding member and board vice-chairman Frank Schmid remembers 48 people showed that day.

Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic Volunteers Carol Kay, of St. Anastasia Parish, Troy, and Chester Tryban, of St. Sylvester Parish, Warren, serve a hot brunch with a smile to volunteers. Clients can also take home bags of baked goods, in the foreground.

Now known as the Matchan Nutrition Center, after an early volunteer who made a large donation, the kitchen earlier this year celebrated 25 years of serving meals to those in need in the Pontiac area. Matchan Board Chairman Robert Harper's best guess is that they've served between 550,000 and 600,000 meals over the last 25 years.

Gene Landry, one of the early committee members and now a board member, said he's glad he can be a part of the Matchan mission. "We're all one family," he said. "It bugs me to think that people are hungry."

Matchan draws people from many nationalities, most of whom live in Pontiac, many with mental disabilities, many of them working poor. The location of the center draws people in on bikes or on foot from about a mile and a half radius.

The hot meals are served at no cost to the clients — even if they offer — which therefore frees up money for their other expenses, such as rent and utilities. Some come in wearing work uniforms and take their meal to go. Multiple dishes are offered, and if there's enough food, clients can have a second helping.

Elizabeth Cronin | The Michigan Catholic Matchan board chairman Bob Harper, kitchen manager Leona Patterson, and volunteer Ed Sheeran, of St. Thomas More Parish, Troy, work to serve a hot meal.

Kitchen manager Leona Patterson plans on making as many as 300 meals in three hours twice a week, a difficult task considering that she usually doesn't know what ingredients she has to work with until the last minute, as they're dependent on what was donated. "There's a lot of improvisation that goes on," Harper said.

Patterson, a member of St. Damien who got involved at Matchan through her social work background and stayed to run the kitchen, admits she didn't know how to cook until then. "We don't waste anything," she said. "We're very grateful to the donors."

Costco and Panera donate baked goods for the meal's dessert, and Kroger and Gordon Food Service also make significant donations, Harper said. Otherwise, the $50,000 annual cost of running the nutrition center — which includes rent, a van, some food, and three employees — is sponsored by parishes, donors, and some government funding. The first few years served a thousand people annually, but now the average is about 24,000 a year, with this year expected to be closer to 26,000.

Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic Volunteers Aloys Turck, of St. Thomas More Parish, Troy, and Carol Kay, of St. Anastasia Parish, Troy, prepare to serve food to clients at the Matchan Nutrition Center, Pontiac.

Matchan has a core of about 70 regular volunteers, and some groups come in to earn community service hours. In fact, the core of volunteers is so strong that for Thanksgiving, the biggest event of the year, the number of those helping has to be cut off at 50.

Richard and Joan Martus, members of Sacred Heart Parish, Auburn Hills, help out organizing the storage pantry, where nonperishable goods are kept until there's enough to make a meal. After Richard retired in 1992, he helped out every Tuesday and Thursday for 16 years, and now he and his wife visit twice a month. "It keeps me busy," he said.

In addition to dry storage in the pantry are freezers storing turkeys — the Ladies of Charity, the St. Vincent de Paul women's auxiliary, donated 72 turkeys for use at Thanksgiving and during the year — and other donated meat, as well as staples such as butter and frozen vegetables. Donated items that can't be served, such as baby food, are given to families.

Ricky Teasley, of Pontiac, worked at the center for 20-something years putting away tables after lunch and mopping floors. He continues to come to help out as a volunteer. "I want to help the homeless, serve them lunch," he said. "I like being around them."

Schmid, a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Beverly Hills, attributes the success over the past quarter decade to the strong volunteer base. "Once you get in there and see those people, you don't want to give up," he said. "I think once you start working, you belong to it — what's going on, what can be done. Usually you don't break away."

Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic A volunteer gives a hot meal to a Matchan client.

KC Card, one of the regular clients, lives in Pontiac and has been going since he went on disability 15 years ago. He said his favorite meals include the chop suey and stir fry. "The food is good," he said. And, "The people are friendly."

Landry, whose home parish is St. Damien, spends a lot of his volunteer time driving to pick up baked goods and other items for the center. "It keeps me focused on what's important," he said. "To do less for yourself, and more for others."

Not only does Matchan provide meals, but also resources and information for other government programs offering assistance. It's a USDA food distribution center — which allowed more people to find out about the free meals — and a legal assistance clinic is held twice a month, too.

Harper said for the future, he'd like to take the strain off St. Damien Parish by finding a new location, but it has been tricky finding a spot nearby that has kitchen facilities and is neither too large nor too small. But for now, the volunteers and board members continue to serve meals, as long as there are people in need who will eat them. "We'll stay here as long as the parish lets us stay," he said.