Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  Every Thursday at noon the Nederland Community Presbyterian Church offered freshly made sandwiches, fresh fruit, a sweet treat, and drinks for those who were camping in the area and for those who wanted lunch.

This past summer the lunches were actually more sumptuous than usual, thanks to Diana Nelson and her many volunteers, for creating a real feast for the homeless and home free.

NCPC pastor Hansen Wendlandt says, “Each Thursday in the summer we welcome campers and locals in need, with a lunch and socks and hygiene supplies. We gave out diapers for families, water for campers to put out fires, and trash bags so they can clean up. With partners like the Food Pantry and Peak to Peak Counseling, we were able to care for folks in body, mind, and soul. And with presentations and visits from the Nederland Fire, CO Parks & Wildlife, US Forest Service, and Boulder County Sheriff, we were able to educate campers on how to be safe for themselves and the community.”

It was an evolutionary process, beginning with the addition of tacos and a pan of Jello with fresh fruit. By last Thursday, which was the last Thursday lunch, the meal had escalated to a full blown turkey dinner worthy of Thanksgiving, two turkeys, mashed potatoes, gravy, excellent stuffing and eight pumpkin pies. Other volunteers brought in potluck dishes and the small noontime gathering jumped into feast class.

This is the second year that the church has hosted the event with the goal of reaching out to a transient population that was getting a reputation for violence, theft and abandoned campfires. It has been a controversial program with many people saying giving out food only encouraged the bad element of visitors who are looking for a free handout and bullying the locals.

Others said if it taught the campers how to respect the area, it was worth it.

In 2016, around 10 people per week showed up, and this year 16 showed up each week, agreeing to spread the word to other campers and to keep an eye out for campfires.

Last week, August 17, 31 visitors showed up and were by joined by 16 volunteers who shared lunch and conversation. Hansen says that some of the regular lunch guests have stopped by the church throughout the week for conversation and support.

“One of the women told me, ‘This is the first church I’ve ever felt welcome in. This is the first safe place I’ve ever had.’”

Diana Nelson says she began volunteering years ago with the Boulder County Cares and the Boulder Community Foundation which helped feed many families with children. “People are so grateful for the food that they want to help out. We have been offering a better quality of food, more fresh, healthy and nutritious fruits, salads, fresh herbs and everyone has been loving it. Susan Gerhardt made cookies every week and Barbara Hardt made sure there were plenty of sandwiches.”

Lunch has become a buffet.

“Thank you so much,” said one of the guests, “This is a treat, like it’s Thanksgiving or something.”

Hansen scheduled speakers from the Forest Service and Parks and Wildlife who talked to the campers about building relationships and making the campsites a safe place. He said it seems like there were less problems in town this past summer. There were as many campers as usual, but most stayed at the campsites.

The camping areas were cleaner this year. Wendlandt says that in the past couple years, jail crews have come in once a month to haul trash away, but that wasn’t necessary this summer.

“We have had many fire calls over the summer, but that’s because we now have so many eyes on the trouble spots. Also, I believe that locals are not picking up as many hitchhikers, which makes more of the transients stay in the camps instead of hanging out in town.”

He says that one day a person who was against handing out free lunches stopped by to see what was going on and happened to run into an old school buddy. The two of the them have rekindled their friendship. The program is about compassion and you can’t go wrong with that.

(Originally published in the August 24, 2017 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)