Saturday Kitchen still on hold due to COVID

WASHINGTON - It is currently unknown when the Saturday Kitchen will resume.

Marde McConnell, volunteer with the United Presbyterian Church, said the volunteers are excited and anxious to start hosting it again, but it is not safe to do so yet.

Traditionally, the Saturday Kitchen hosts free meals at rotating churches around Washington on Saturdays.

When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Iowa in March, McConnell said the group tried to have a drive-through Saturday Kitchen. At the time, people would still get out of their cars and chat with each other. It was officially postponed in April, she said.

Because the host church changes each week, McConnell said it is hard to know which groups will be OK with hosting the dinner and which groups wouldn't.

'If it was the same group each week you could figure it out,” she said. 'But all of a sudden they're fixing 120 meals and figuring out how to do it safely for them and other people.”

McConnell said the group will be work with Washington County Public Health and HACAP to determine when it is safe to restart. At that time, she said it is likely they will start with drive-through.