In 2023, Michigan Tech students got involved with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church near campus to think about ways to bring the community together. Eventually, the idea of hosting a weekly evening to provide free meals to Michigan Tech undergraduate students was born. According to the Rev. Sarah Semler-Smith, in the first year of the program, they served over 700 meals and averaged 25-50 students every Tuesday.
Renovating the kitchen will allow us to become a fully licensed kitchen according to Michigan state regulations. Both of these will increase our ability to cook. But we have been dreaming of different ways we can contribute to the community with a more up-to-date and standard kitchen. We are renovating the stove and oven. We also need to replace our residential hood with a commercial one, which will ensure safety while cooking. This will be our biggest cost. We will also have to pay for flooring, plumbing, etc. But the hood will be our biggest expense.– Rev. Sarah Semler Smith, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Combating food insecurity among college students often takes a backseat to more vulnerable populations in the area, but Semler-Smith recognizes that just as other programs focus on school-age children, making sure the lab's students are full is just as important, adding that the space also serves as a common area for much of the campus community to find friends and meet new people.
For me, this is about knowing that it's not just a food insecurity issue for college students. But loneliness is so prevalent among college students today. So just having a place where they can come, even once a week, whenever they want, is great. It also gives them purpose by helping out volunteering. A lot of people come and start by eating. And then they ask how they can help. So this serves multiple purposes in the college community. So it's great to just sit back and watch our college students doing this for each other and together. – Rev. Sarah Semler Smith, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
To continue operating the Feed My Sheep meal venue, Good Shepard needs to complete major upgrades in the kitchen, including a new commercial kitchen hood, plumbing and two stoves. Semmler-Smith said the overhead hood for the ovens will be the most expensive part of the project. Recently, the group completed part of the funding needed to upgrade the kitchen. If you would like to learn more about the Feed My Sheep program with Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Houghton or help upgrade the meal venue's kitchen, you can learn more here.
