Golden Magnolia Sanctuary to host Winter Feast Saturday

FAIRFIELD — Golden Magnolia Sanctuary in Fairfield invites the public to its Winter Feast on Saturday, Dec. 24.

A vegan meal will be served from 4:30-8 p.m. that day, and there is no need to RSVP. Adriene Crimson, who owns the building with Tammy Haessler, said individuals are invited to “pay what they may.” She said that day’s meal will include “all the traditional American holiday sides.” Werner Elmker will play piano as musical accompaniment to the meal.

Golden Magnolia Sanctuary, located in what was formerly the First Presbyterian Church at 200 S. Main St., has been running a soup kitchen three days a week since Aug. 10. It serves Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5:30-8 p.m. each day. Crimson said the soup kitchen’s average attendance is 220 people per week.

“When we meal plan, we prepare for 100 people a day, and sometimes we have leftovers,” Crimson said.

Crimson and Haessler purchased the building from the church on July 2, 2021. They remodeled the second floor to live there, and have leased the sanctuary and community room to various groups. For instance, the building hosts the Fairfield Farmers Market during the winter months, and recently hosted a pair of concerts in its sanctuary courtesy of the Chamber Singers of Southeast Iowa.

Crimson said that she and Haessler had wanted to open a soup kitchen in the community room from the moment they stepped foot inside.

“We both walked through the door, looked at it and said, ‘soup kitchen,’” Crimson recalled. “We’re both charity-minded and like to take care of people. We saw that the church had this industrial kitchen already, which is perfect.”

Crimson said Golden Magnolia has been fortunate to receive a steady stream of volunteers to prepare the meals for the soup kitchen, which entails three to four people for prep work on Wednesdays, and then six for each night of serving. All meals served at the soup kitchen are vegan, and any non-vegan donations Golden Magnolia receives are put in the Little Free Pantries around town.

Cheyanne Holliday is outreach manager for Golden Magnolia Sanctuary, and has been able to secure food donations from local farmers and businesses. Now that the growing season is over, Holliday is having to rely more on purchasing ingredients with the monetary donations that come in. Crimson said the soup kitchen gets about $2.50 in donations per meal served, which so far has been enough to cover the cost of food.

“People thank us for doing this for the community, and I’ve seen tears a few times,” Crimson said. “There are also local vegans who come every week because they’re psyched to have a vegan option.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com