It's Thursday afternoon and volunteers are prepping for tonight's meal at St. Mark's Lutheran Church just as they have for the last 20 years.

Katie's Kitchen, a free community meal co-sponsored by St. Mark's Church, 201 W. Jefferson St., and Trinity Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Drive, will mark its 20th anniversary Sept. 14.

Katie's Kitchen, which takes its name from Katie Von Bora, Martin Luther's wife, who was famous for her kitchen, brewery and garden, provides a meal every Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. at St. Mark's.

Linda Thoma of Butler has been director of Katie's Kitchen for the past five years.

She said Katie's Kitchen was started in 1994 by the late Hellen Erdos.

“It ranges from 100 to 200 a Thursday,” said Thoma of attendance. “It's a combination of children and adults. Last week we had 20 children under 10 and 135 adults.”

“We usually get here at 1:30, 2 p.m. and dinner is at 5, so we have 3, 3½ hours to prepare,” said Thoma.

This day, Thoma and her cooks and volunteers are making penne pasta with meat sauce, a tossed salad and fresh green beans.

Thoma said the meals are prepared by 100 volunteers drawn from Trinity, St. Mark's, St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Cabot, St. Andrews Roman Catholic Church and Community Alliance Church.

Thoma, herself, is a member of Community Alliance Church.

“Each volunteer works one week, and we have 25 volunteers a week,” said Thoma.

One of those volunteers is Mary Lou Boben of Butler, a member of St. Andrews, who has been volunteering at Katie's Kitchen for the past three years.

“I go three or four times a month,” Boben said. “I get to cut up the desserts.

“I also go in and help cut the vegetables. We work together to wash, cut and freeze them,” Boben said.

Cleanup after meals takes a half-hour, Thoma said, and the meals are cooked in a kitchen with a donated industrial dishwasher, freezers and ovens.

“I coordinate the volunteers, do all the shopping, pick up donations and apply for grants,” said Thoma, who volunteered at Katie's Kitchen before taking over as director.

She said Katie's Kitchen is run by a steering committee made up of St. Mark's pastor, the Rev. Alden Towberman, and Trinity's pastor, the Rev. Joel Benson, and three members from each church.

“Food comes from donations,” said Thoma. “Most of our meat is deer meat. It comes from Hunters Sharing the Harvest. We have deer meat frozen right now.”

She said she expects the kitchen's larders to be replenished in the upcoming hunting season.

“We don't eat venison, but my husband (Harry) likes to hunt,” said Boben. “When he gets a deer, he takes it to a processor and says to donate it to Katie's Kitchen. The processor will often waive his fee.”

Thoma added Trinity Lutheran Church has a garden that supplies vegetables for the meals.

Katie's Kitchen also gets other donations, she said. Chickens and pigs are given by the Butler Farm Show, and one benefactor gives half a cow every year.

“It's just a great community,” said Boben. “We got 50 frozen pumpkin pies once. We've gotten frozen ice cream cakes. One bakery gave us 12 cartons of cupcakes. Those lasted awhile.”

Thoma said the kitchen, even though it doesn't belong to a food bank, is able to turn out meals weekly at a cost of about 40 cents a plate.

“We have excellent cooks and we make everything from scratch every week. We get a lot of compliments on the food,” said Thoma. “We feed anybody. Everyone is welcome here. We don't question. There are no income guidelines.”

Thoma said there is a place in Butler to get a free meal every day of the week, but Katie's Kitchen doesn't coordinate with the other meal programs.

“I think we have great volunteers, that we are here to serve the community and serve God,” said Thoma.

Thoma said the most people she and her volunteers have fed was 289 people in July 2012.

“But for the most part, you get to see regulars and you miss them when they are gone,” Thoma said.

“Families struggling to feed their family and pay their bills, seniors who need help to make it through the month,” make up typical diners, Thoma said.

She plans meals a month ahead based on what ingredients are available.

For instance, this day the kitchen has a lot of fresh cabbages, so a future meal will include fish sticks paired with fresh- made coleslaw.

“Flexibility is the key,” she said.

She said she always needs volunteers, “Right now, I need two dishwashers and servers.”

People interested in volunteering should call 724-882-1329 before 2 p.m.