At the Banquet

Tess Brinkerhoff, AIJI Staff Writer

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Tom Davis, 52, lives where he lays his hat.

I choose not to have a home. I don’t want to stay at the mission; if you stay there one night they ask you to leave. And it leaks,” Davis said. “You wouldn’t want to live there, either. I live in my tent, and I like it.”

The Banquet is a feeding ministry. It began 23 years ago, to help the hunger problem in Sioux Falls. It has 950 volunteer groups that come to serve the hungry. The banquet calls them guests.

“The mission was to figure out how to feed people, with dignity, and without judgment,” said Madeline Shields, special projects director. “Our volunteers come to serve the hungry, the homeless, the elderly and the low income. We have 300 to 400 people a night, and we serve them all between 6 and 7:30 p.m.”

There is nowhere else for people from all walks of life to go in the city to get to know one another in an intimate setting, said Marvella Shatter, food service director.

“The other day at breakfast I saw a husband, wife and four children. They looked like family that you would see shopping at Target, but they were here eating because they couldn’t do it anymore,” Shatter said.

The Banquet has many programs to try to better the Sioux Falls community, including Plan S.O.S, which stands for Supply Our Students. Volunteers pack up school supplies for the students, per grade, and give out about 4,400 backpacks each year, Shields said.

The Banquet is volunteer and donation based. A group of 40 is needed to serve evening meals and 15 to 18 for breakfast. Each group purchases, prepares and serves the food and helps with cleanup duties.

The Banquet is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. Nearly the entire operating budget is derived from private donations. Cash and material donations are relied on to pay for milk, coffee and juice; supplies and equipment; and staffing and building costs. All donations are tax deductible.

The slowing economy has hurt the group. Its donators aren’t able to support the Banquet like they used to, Shatter said. Donators that used to be able to give however much was needed now have limitations.

“We might be doing okay right now. But I know in about three months it’s going to be really hard around here when it comes to getting food,” Shatter said. “Especially meat.”

For information on how to volunteer or make donations visit: www.thebanquetsf.org