Warm togetherness: St. Michael's lunch strengthens the Göttingen community!

Warm togetherness: St. Michael's lunch strengthens the Göttingen community!

In Göttingen, the lunch table of the St. Michael parish has long since developed into an important meeting point. Every day between 40 and 70 guests make the pilgrimage to Turmstrasse 5 to enjoy warm meals from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The offering ranges from nutritious stews to freshly prepared salads and tempting desserts, as visitor Jan is currently discovering at his table. Lunch is not only a culinary oasis for many, but also a place for meeting and social exchange, which is particularly important for people in difficult life situations. As the Göttinger Tageblatt reports, many visitors depend on this daily meal to not only satisfy their hunger but also to avoid social isolation.

The head of the lunch table, Anna Werner-Parker, is committed with all her strength and passion. She and her team of volunteers master the balancing act between cooking, chopping and washing up every day. It is a community effort that is supported with 100,000 euros annually - largely through donations and food donations collected by different groups. An example of this is the cans of fruit from a role-playing group and clothing donated by students. Another good news is the generous donation from the Göttingen Lions Club, which is contributing 1,000 euros to improve the offerings.

Social responsibility in the community

As the Lions Club Göttingen website shows, many lunch guests are under health pressure and often struggle against social isolation. The lunch menu not only offers a warm meal, but is also complemented by the presence of Diakonie social workers who are regularly on site. We are working together to defuse social hotspots in Göttingen. This type of support, combined with the exchange between guests, creates an indispensable social network.

The team is continually looking for additional volunteers. Even sporadic help is gratefully accepted. A volunteer, Sören, tells how he once needed support and now sees the opportunity to give something back. A warm place full of hearts - this is how the atmosphere in the facility can be described, which is like a second family for many visitors.

A meeting place

Lunch is particularly important for older people who often live alone. They tend to eat inadequately and take little part in social life. To counteract this, communal offerings such as lunch tables and neighborhood tables promote well-being and social participation, as BAGSO emphasizes. Nutritious and balanced meals play a central role, especially when it comes to maintaining health as we age.

For the coming holidays, the lunch table is planning a festive menu that is intended to warm not only the stomach, but also the heart - because on Christmas Eve, many guests will also have warm clothing for Christmas time. So lunch in Göttingen will continue to be a ray of hope and a sign of solidarity and community in an often cold world.