Volunteers from St. Mark's participate in a soup kitchen twice a month at the First Congregational Church in Riverhead. The soup kitchen is operated by Bread and More INN, the Riverhead chapter of Interfaith Nutrition Network.

St. Mark's has helped out at the Bread and More INN soup kitchen since May, 1998. We call our volunteer effort Love in a Dish. About 18 members of the congregation serve 80 to 100 people of all ages on the first Wednesday and the first Monday of the month. Over 50 members of St. Mark's have contributed to Love in a Dish through donations of food, money or time.

It costs only $1.03 to serve one person a full meal, and over 90% of the Love in a Dish budget goes to food; the rest goes to paper products and other supplies needed for the meals. None of the funds go to salaries or overhead.

Love in a Dish depends on contributions from parishioners and from other sources to support itself. We are grateful to all who contribute funds, food and time. Our program expresses a principle of St. Mark's mission: to be a faith community that serves God's healing and caring ministry to our members, our community and the world.

Following is a prayer that we feel expresses the spirit behind Love in a Dish: