The minister who founded a church food program 20 years ago returned to serve its 2 millionth meal.
"It had a very simple beginning," the Rev. Jim Lewis said of the Manna Meal program. "Over the years I think lives have been changed for the better, especially for people in church."Lewis said the program started in 1977 when he decided to provide meal tickets to hungry people at church that could be exchanged for a meal at a nearby diner.
Lewis would fund the tickets from the St. John's Episcopal Church's discretionary fund.
Then church members decided the program needed more personal touch, Lewis said. He said church members served their first meal, a bowl of soup and peanut butter sandwich, to a man named Oscar Lee Huff, who was later beaten to death on the streets of Charleston.
"When we started out, it cost 30 cents to 60 cents per meal," Lewis said. "Now it is $2 per person."
Meal recipients do not pay. The program is funded by donations, said Manna Meal President Joan Paul McDonald.
The program now serves more than 100 for breakfast daily and more than 200 for lunch, McDonald said.