Welcome back to “A Slice of Savory Sunday”.
Can you believe that 2025 is halfway done? I can’t, but I also couldn’t believe how amazing the first Savory Sunday of July 2025 was! And I’m not just saying this to hype up the organization, I’m genuinely surprised at how well this Sunday turned out!
The main course of yesterday’s meal was a Mexican beef casserole, with salads both green and pasta on the side. Patrons could also add salsa and shredded cheese to their casserole if they desired, as well as ranch dressing for their salad. Dessert that day was a big ol’ batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies, and we had the usual sack lunch fixings of sandwiches (turkey with either mustard or mayo, and PB&J), clementines, and a box of assorted chips. And of course, bottled water, because it’s still summer and therefore hot! Stay hydrated!
On my way to the capitol, I ended up passing by some folks on the street. Not wanting them to miss out, I let them know that Savory Sunday would be starting soon, and some of them showed interest. After arriving at the capitol, I helped the other Savory Sunday Captains set up, and once we were ready, we got to serving! And boy howdy, did we serve! While the other captains handed out the main course, I was in charge of loading up brown paper bags with sandwiches.
Since I started this blog, I’ve noticed that 30 is the average number of people that get meals every Savory Sunday, although there are times we end up getting around 40 people fed. Yesterday, though? We didn’t end up serving 30 people, we didn’t serve 40 people, we didn’t even serve 50 people! Nope! We ended up serving a grand total of 62 people that day! I don’t know if it was because of my announcement on the street or if it’s because people really like Mexican beef casserole, but it happened and I couldn’t be happier! And the best part is that this was all without seconds! Due to the sheer amount of people who came in for food, only 3 people came back for seconds. I even congratulated the 50th guy we served for being the 50th person who came in that day!
But speaking of the people who were fed that day, I’d like to give a special shoutout to this one lady in a wheelchair who warmed my heart! She was a very sweet woman, and kept chatting with me and the other people at the end of the meal assembly line. While I was going around during the last call for food, she called me aside and told me her story: at first, she felt lost, unnoticed, and hopeless within the Madison community. But then, she discovered the weekly meals that Savory Sunday provides, and she finally felt seen! As she told me this, I noticed that she was holding back tears, so Savory Sunday means a lot to her! There have been some memorable Savory Sunday patrons, but few have tugged at my heartstrings like she did!
Overall, this was one of the best Savory Sundays I’ve experienced not just in 2025, but in my whole tenure with the organization! Next time on “A Slice of Savory Sunday”, I’ll be in charge of providing the main meal for the week. Wish me luck!