Salvation Army replaces Easter food program

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - The Mankato Salvation Army is in the midst of a busy week ahead of Easter Sunday.

The shelter is celebrating Holy Week with guided daily readings, and is planning something new for the community come Sunday.

The Salvation Army will be holding an Easter Sunday service, followed by a community meal that will be free and open to everyone, regardless of background or financial situation.

“We wanted to find a way to give back to the community that would be meaningful,” said Captain Andy Wheeler of the Salvation Army. “And what we’ve come to know and learn is that the community itself, fellowship is something that’s really important here.”

The meal will replace the Easter meal voucher program that the shelter ran for several years.

The Salvation Army says that the demand for the previous meal voucher program was lower than they expected, and that they hope that the new offering will more effectively fill the need within the community while celebrating a day that us so important on the Salvation Army’s calendar.

“We thought ‘how can we do a better job with the resources we have?’” explained Wheeler. “So, this is kind of a one-stop-shop sort of a thing. You come in if you’re hungry, you don’t have to worry about pressure for cooking for your whole family or any of that stuff. We want to do that for you. So we think that it’s probably going to have a bigger impact than the Easter Basket Voucher program did before.”

The shelter’s Easter service will begin at 10:30 a.m., with the community meal kicking off at 12:30 p.m..

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