Swansboro Baptist partners with nonprofit to offer free meals

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

For Kevin Alston and dozens of other hungry South Side residents struggling with food costs, Swansboro Baptist Church is now the place to go for a free hot lunch.

“They’re a godsend,” said Mr. Alston, a day laborer who rides his bike to the church on days when he cannot find work.

The church at 3801 Midlothian Turnpike now offers hot meals and free take-home food items five days a week on behalf of the nonprofit Richmond Friends of the Homeless, a group that founder and leader Shawnee Hansen created in 1986 to tackle hunger issues.

Swansboro started serving Monday through. Fridaysin mid-March, taking over from Broomfield Christian Methodist Episcopal Church on Richmond Highway. Broomfield ended its role as the host site after 14 years.

“We were offered an opportunity and we took it,” said Luther A. Brown Jr., chair of Swansboro Baptist’s Trustee Board.

Both he and the board’s vice chair, Josephine S. Myers, are regulars in helping to set up and serve dur-