The monthly community dinners at Center Presbyterian Church in Slippery Rock will not continue, according to organizers.

“Providing the meals has been an uplifting, positive experience for all involved as well as a benefit to the community,” said dinner coordinator Marilynn Martin Blinn.

Coordinators discontinued the dinners and dissolved the organization due to declining volunteer support and attendance as well as unfilled leadership roles.

“Information and records from the program's past will be retained and will be available to anyone who might wish to reestablish the dinners in the future,” Blinn said.

Becky Lubold has been a volunteer with the group since it started in 2009.

“It would definitely be gratifying to see it start up again,” Lubold said.

Lubold said the dinners were originally set up with the intention of feeding the hungry in the community.

“That was the big part of the original dinners. There are people in our community who needed food,” she said. “When food was left over after the dinners, it was distributed through the food bank to people.”

As the dinners continued, they evolved into a community event at which members of churches and organizations cooked and shared a meal while discussing how they could work together.

“It was really nice because people from all walks of life and different churches all worked together to put this meal on,” Blinn said.

Blinn said the dinners also had a connection to Slippery Rock University, especially the McCoskey Center, where SRU's food pantry, Bob's Market, provides food to students in need.

An option for community members who are hungry or food insecure — and relied on the community dinners — is the Feed My Sheep food pantry at 324 N. Main St.

Carol Lambert, coordinator of Feed My Sheep, said she hopes people inconvenienced by the discontinuation of the dinners will stop by the pantry.

“I don't want anyone to go hungry,” Lambert said.

She said the dinners were a great place for collaboration, and became important in developing relationships between organizations in the community. However, she said people in need were not using the resource as much as they could.

She said the event also offered an opportunity for lonely residents to share a meal with people and partake in social interaction.

“They didn't have to eat alone,” Lambert said. “(But) I don't think it reached the poorest families who perhaps needed the help.”

Lambert said many people in the community who need help don't ask for it. She said pride occasionally gets in the way, while others don't understand the little details that might qualify them for assistance.

“Pride is a very difficult thing to overcome. There are people who really should come, but I think they're too proud to come,” Lambert said. “There are people who the minute they get a job don't think they're eligible.”

Lambert said whether it's a fire, a lost job or just not making enough money, people should not be afraid to ask for help.

“If they need food, come in and talk to us,” Lambert said.