It might take some scrambling and a little extra work, but the Christians who provide the nightly community meals at several Butler churches say all who hunger shall be fed.

The churches have noticed a significant increase recently in the number of people who attend the free meals, which pastors and meal organizers attribute to the economic difficulties many families are experiencing today.

“Some are working and struggle to make ends meet, and help with meals allows them to pay their rent or buy gas to get to work or ensure their kids have shoes on their feet,” said the Rev. Mary Malloy, pastor at Saint Andrews United Presbyterian Church.

Saint Andrews offers a free dinner each Wednesday night at the church.

Congregation members at Saint Andrews prepare the meal for the first Wednesday of each month, then other Butler churches prepare and transport a meal to Saint Andrews on the following Wednesdays.

“We are deeply grateful for our partner churches,” Malloy said. “We could not do this without their efforts.”

In January and February, 80 to 100 people partook of the meals at Saint Andrews. In August and September, that number jumped to more than 135 at the meals.

“We will continue to serve as many as we need to,” Malloy said. “Our goal is to meet the needs that come to us, but it’s hard to anticipate how many we will have these days.”

She said food is a basic necessity in life that Saint Andrews volunteers are happy to prepare for Butler’s disadvantaged individuals and families.

“If you are hungry, it’s hard to do anything else,” Malloy said. “It’s hard to learn, it’s hard to work, it’s hard to sleep.”

Becky Plymale, a member of Hill United Presbyterian Church, works with her fellow congregation member, Judy Birch, to provide the meal for the second Wednesday of each month at Saint Andrews.

Plymale said the duo planned for 90 meals one year ago and many times had meals left over.

“We planned for 144 last week and we ran out,” Plymale said. “That is a huge increase.”

She said all six churches that provide an evening meal saw more than 140 people come for a take-out dinner last week.

“We’re guessing it’s because the cost of food has gone up,” Plymale said.

She and Birch prepare the entree in the Hill U.P. kitchen on the second Tuesday of each month, then they come to the church early on Wednesday to put the meal together.

A team of volunteers from Hill helps divide the meal and place it in the takeout containers all the churches are using due to the pandemic.

The women of the church are asked to provide dessert or a salad for the meals, Plymale said.

She and Birch have a budget of $200 for each meal, and order meat and some canned goods using federal grant dollars procured by Alliance for Nonprofit Resources during the pandemic.

“It’s hard to feed 140 people for $200,” Plymale said. “Sometimes I don’t make it.”

She said there is talk of raising the amount for the monthly community dinner.

“The congregation has been really, really supportive of this,” Plymale said.

MaryAnn Swanson, one of four coordinators of the dinners offered each Monday night at First English Lutheran Church said volunteers were preparing fewer than 100 meals in 2020.

“It has been at least 50% higher, and there have been weeks when we’ve seen 150 to 180 people,” she said. “There are usually about 150 now.”

She surmises the increase is because families today must decide between food and medicine, bills, gas, and clothes or shoes for their children.

“Those who live in need have to make choices about what they do with their money,” Swanson said.

She said the First English congregation has increased its donations to match the cost of the extra meals, and many businesses donate food to the church.

Giant Eagle donates canned goods, bread and other items, while the owner of Dairy Queen on Route 8 in Penn Township brings ice cream once a week for a special treat.

She said Walmart provided grant money along with the federal pandemic dollars procured by ANR.

“It’s a community effort and we’re very grateful to them,” Swanson said.

The Rev. Michael Barton, youth pastor at Meridian United Presbyterian Church, said his church once provided a monthly meal for Saint Andrews, but began offering its own monthly community meal about a year ago.

Barton said he is aware that numbers have been increasing recently for those who provide free meals, and he wonders if his volunteers will see more attending Meridian U.P. meals each month.

“It will be interesting to see if the numbers bounce back up now that school is back in,” he said.

Barton said groups within the church take turns preparing the monthly meal, known as the Agape Meal. “Agape” is the Greek word for “Christian love.“

The deacons are doing October’s meal.

The church’s mission committee reimburses the people who prepare the meals for the foods purchased.

“We have a large fellowship hall with a kitchen,” Barton said. “They prepare the food there. People in the congregation donate cookies or cakes for dessert.”

He said all congregation members are invited to attend the dinners and interact with attendees.

As a result, many families have enrolled their children in the church youth group or activities for younger children.

“I think for us, (the free dinner) was a way, as a church, to connect with our community,” Barton said. “It’s for those who are hungry and in need of community post-pandemic. There are people in our neighborhood who are just in need of connection with other people.”

All dinners in the city are held from 5 to 6 p.m. The schedule is as follows:

* Monday, First English Lutheran Church, 241 N. Main St.

* Tuesday, St. Paul Catholic Church, 128 N. McKean St.

* Wednesday, Saint Andrews U.P. Church, 201 E. Jefferson St.

* Thursday, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 201 W. Jefferson St.

* Friday, First United Methodist Church, 215 N. McKean St.

* Saturdays, New Beginnings Free Methodist Church, 416 Center Ave.

A meal is held on the last Sunday of each month at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, 218 E. Jefferson St.

The Presbyterian churches that donate monthly meals to Saint Andrews, in addition to Hill U.P., are Muddy Creek Evangelical Presbyterian, Unionville Evangelical Presbyterian, Trinity Presbyterian, East Butler Presbyterian and Allison Park Church-Butler campus.

Anyone can donate to any of the churches involved in the community meals to help support the ministry.