The ice storm of'98 which paralyzed Maine on the night of January 7th made transportation treacherous and brought down power lines everywhere, but it mobilized the people of the United Methodist Church in Winthrop, Maine. And it all began with the children.

The Junior High Youth Group wanted to help people without power who were cold, hungry and without sources of heat or the means to prepare hot meals in their homes. They knew that the Red Cross had set up a shelter in town. They also knew that the Methodist Church on Main Street had power. This meant that food could be prepared . And prepare, they did! They gathered with their youth group leaders, Kristine and Charlie Longstaff, and baked muffins and donuts to deliver to the Red Cross.

It soon became apparent that there was a need for hot meals, in addition to the food and shelter provided by the Red Cross across town. The Methodist Church set up tables and started serving two meals a day on Saturday, January 1Oth, to anyone who walked through the door. A sign outside read "EAT FREE," One estimate put the number of meals served per day at approximately 200 during the peak of the power outage in the area. The meals were provided free for twelve days.

In addition to food, volunteers walked among the tables, stopping to chat with people to find out their circumstances and to determine if they needed to be encouraged to go the shelter. One volunteer, Karen Richards Toothaker, described this ministry of food in this way: "People came needing food and warmth for their bodies, but also needing warmth for their souls. While I was helping at the church, I kept thinking about our (Winthrop United Methodist) mission statement, which is to be a welcoming Christian community that invites all people to participate in God's love. The way we do that as a church is through nurture, outreach, and witness."

One family with three children and the mother 5 1/2 months pregnant, came in regularly for meals. The mother, Betsy Branagan of Wayne, said, "This has been real nice. Everybody is pleasant. My kids like it. It's entertaining, better than being home in the dark. Someone plays the accordion and we sing hymns. Everybody is looking out for each other. With no school, this gives the kids something to do. And I probably ate better here than if we had electricity at home!" Her son Danny, age 9, said enthusiastically, "I love the food so much! I meet tons of friends here and they are so kind. I would have sat around being hungry at home, but here I can eat and play and watch TV."

Approximately 30 volunteers prepared, served, and cleaned up after each meal. If there was a need for a hot meal to be delivered to someone at home who could not get out, the food was packaged and delivered. And there were different volunteers, each with their own talent, every day. For instance, one woman stopped in and said she only had two hours to help out, and what could she do. It turned out that she was skilled in preparing flower arrangements, and the local florist had just donated fresh cut flowers to be placed on all of the tables. So she had arrived at just the right time, with just the right talent needed. "A gift of God's timing," observed one volunteer. Most of the volunteers had never had experience cooking in quantities, but they were able to depend upon the advice of a man in town who manages food service to the schools. He was able to give them useful information on food quantities, as well as sanitary requirements in serving the public. The youth group provided free baby- sitting, played with children, set up videos and games for children, and helped set, serve, and clear tables. Schools were closed for seven days, due to the widespread power outage, so there was a need for activities for children.

The volunteers included not only members of the United Methodist Church, but folks from other denominations in town, as well as people who did not attend any church. The Congregational church a block away did not have power, but they wanted to help, so they were able to bake food in their gas ovens, and deliver it to the Methodist Church. They also provided a delicious fish chowder, a specialty of that congregation which is served monthly at public luncheons. The church cooperated with the Red Cross, baking pies provided by the Red Cross, sending them to the shelter, and keeping ten of the pies for the church's tables.

Whenever it seemed that the provisions were low, food would come in from a variety of sources. A local orchard donated large quantities of apples. The local food bank, soup kitchen ,and Lion's Club contributed to supplies. People donated their thawed freezer foods to be cooked for the meals. The United Methodist Camp (Mechuwana), in town brought over some of their provisions. Volunteers learned to be creative with whatever food came in for that particular day. "It was just a miracle of the loaves and fishes over and over and over," said Priscilla Small, an active volunteer and member of the church.

With so many cooks in the kitchen, one might be concerned about accidents from use of knives, boiling water, etc. At such a time, prayer can help. Priscilla Small said. "I prayed for God's protection of everybody one day, you know, with all those hot foods. And Alden (her husband and co-supervisor in the kitchen) cut himself, but it was mild, and I figured that was God's protection!"

Neighbors helped each other throughout the ordeal. One volunteer, who had been spending long hours working in the kitchen at the church, went home briefly to collect a few items and discovered a friend shoveling his driveway. Members of the congregation who had generators volunteered to take them to people's houses to run their furnace or freezer for a few hours.

Caro Kaiser, who supervised the kitchen work with Alden Small, said with a smile, "what's happening is like the song, "It Only Takes A Spark To Get A Fire Going." Caro was proud of the tremendous amount of energy gladly given by the volunteers to feed the people. In fact, Caro showed up one Sunday during the church service with "bunny ears" on her head and commented on the energy people were investing in helping others, noting that it was an energy not supplied by batteries but by the love of God.

Cliff West, one of the volunteers, was impressed by the outpouring of support for the work being done at the kitchen. When asked about the effect of the food ministry on the community, he said, "The expressions of relief and gratitude on the faces of the people when they come in here, and the cooperation with the Red Cross. We all accomplished a service and filled a serious need, and those who could help, did."

Winthrop United Methodist Church is a congregation with an average worshipping attendance of 125 people. The population of the town is approximately 5,000. The people of this church community may be small in numbers, but their dedicated service to those in need reflects a deep commitment to Christ's command to "feed my sheep." Members of this church not only helped out in their own church kitchen, but spent many long hours working at the Red Cross shelter in town. And their kitchen ministry in time of crisis is just one of many missions works which have taken place and continue to happen in the Winthrop United Methodist Church.

The pastor, the Rev. Steve Perry, said "This small church isn't a stranger to mission work. They are a sister church with Torsey United Methodist Church (in a neighboring town) to a church in Nicaragua. They arranged for donations of two tractor trailer truckloads of sneakers to Nicaragua and to the Red Bird Mission in Kentucky. The Senior High Youth have gone to Red Bird Mission for five years now. They volunteer at the Salem Economic Mission. And people have gone to Nicaragua and Puerto Pico on volunteer mission trips."

Bob Strickland, director of the food bank in Winthrop, and a member of the Winthrop United Methodist Church, summed up the food ministry during the power outage by saying, "What that church did is what it's all about. That's what Christ said to us...'feed my sheep' and we did all that. I'm so proud of that church. They really came through. They got the power earIy, and they went ahead and people just did some good things."

Pastor Steve concludes: "The members of Winthrop UMC were doing God's work."