MEALS Inc., a local nonprofit organization that has been feeding those in need on Saturdays for around 30 years, now has a new location and plans for expansion.

MEALS Inc. Procurement Director Matthew Brown said the organization has been operating at its new location at First Baptist Church for three weeks.

“It’s kind of like we have come full circle because one of our first organizational meetings was held at First Baptist Church,” he said.

The program’s previous location was at The Presbyterian Church.

“While we had a good relationship with the church, we simply outgrew it,” Brown said.

Brown said outgrowing the space is “a bit of a double-edged sword” because he “wished more people didn’t need us, but it gives us the opportunity to serve more meals.”

The idea for MEALS (Ministering to Everyone with Action, Love and Support) Inc. was developed in the early 1990s by First Baptist Church Youth Pastor Jeff Story while he was leading a youth service project in Chicago.

The nonprofit decided to have a Saturday-only feeding program to supplement the Salvation Army’s meals, which were served Monday through Friday.

When the program first began, all meals were served on a walk-in basis at Emmanuel Baptist Church on Main Street. A delivery program was added in the mid-1990s, and as the years progressed, fewer people participated in the walk-in program and it was phased out in 2006.

The delivery program has steadily grown over the years. Brown said it serves about 210 meals a week.

“We hope to add to that number as we are able to acclimate to our new space,” he said.

Volunteers from 13 organizations, mostly churches, rotate their services on Saturday mornings to help prepare, package and deliver meals and goodie bags. Panera Bread also provides donations each week.

“Each organization helps support us financially and physically,” Brown said. “Because we are an all volunteer nonprofit, all donations that come in from the churches and businesses go right back into our program for food and related items.”

Brown said the meals are delivered to “our neighbors in need,” including the homeless, elderly, refugee population and disabled military veterans.

The organization has a partnership with Feeding America Kentucky’s Heartland and was recently awarded a FAKH ReGrant, which helps expand capacity for organizations serving areas impacted by last December’s tornadoes.

“This grant will allow us to replace some old cold storage units and will eventually lead to us being able to upgrade the service capacity of our ministry,” Brown said. “Our goal is to be able to expand our reach in the spring of 2023.”

And while Brown said they currently have plenty of volunteers because of the rotation of services they get from the various organizations and churches, he said “we will never turn down willing hands.”