St. Andrews continues Second Sunday Suppers at Camp Hope

Second Sunday Supper, started in July 2018, is a potluck-style dinner sponsored by St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church at Camp Hope, the tent city at the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope (MVCH). 

The idea of Second Sunday Supper is to spend time with our brothers and sisters who are experiencing homelessness. That experience can be dehumanizing and humiliating, and we offer simple companionship and human dignity as we sit down to eat a home-cooked meal together.

But the food is secondary. The primary goal is to spend time talking with people experiencing homelessness. If they want to talk about their struggles, that’s great. But if they want to talk sports or news or politics, that’s great, too. We just want to spend time with them.

Before the pandemic, St. Andrew’s parishioners brought tables, chairs and tablecloths to Camp Hope, shared dinner and conversation with people at the camp and then packed it all up to prepare for the next month. Basically, it was a pop-up potluck. 

The last potluck Second Sunday Supper was March 2020, just before social distancing became the norm. Since then, St. Andrew’s has partnered with Luchador Food Truck to provide 70 boxed meals with a soda.

Ivan Saenz, owner of Luchador Food Truck, was a natural collaborator for this project, as he also has a heart for people experiencing homelessness. He occasionally parked his truck before the pandemic at the Community of Hope and provided free food for the people there.

This partnership has been a win/win/win, as St. Andrew’s has been able to continue this ministry, Luchador has had a bit more income during the pandemic and people experiencing homelessness enjoy Luchador’s culinary creations.

“One of the great things about Second Sunday Supper is how great our car smells when we have it loaded up with Luchador meals,” St. Andrews volunteer Neal McMillan said.

Meals are delivered to people living at Camp Hope, as well as others living or sitting on or near the premises. Facemasks have accompanied the meals every month, as have special gifts at Christmas and Easter.

St. Andrew’s plans to continue to bring Luchador boxed meals to people at Camp Hope through the pandemic. However, parishioners are looking forward to the day when they get to have a traditional potluck with home-cooked meals, tables, chairs and tablecloths.

If any church or organization would like to join St. Andrew’s to sponsor a Sunday Supper, contact me at nmcmilla@nmsu.edu.  It would be amazing if there were a Sunday dinner every week at Camp Hope. What a great way to share hope for better lives!

Dr. Nancy J. McMillan is regents professor, distinguished achievement professor and academic department head of the Department of Geological Sciences at New Mexico State University.