November 7, 2014 at 6:03 p.m.
Coffee and Company offers tasty breakfast, companionship
Coffee and Company offers tasty breakfast, companionship
By Kayla Thomason-
Everyone is welcome to enjoy the breakfast regardless of income. Guests will enjoy a hearty meal of sausage, pancakes, French toast, cereal, sweet rolls, biscuits and gravy, milk, coffee, juice, hash browns, eggs or oatmeal.
Mary Taylor and Nancy Smith, co-founders of Coffee and Company, started by offering coffee once a week, then breakfast once a month. Now the meal is served twice a month.
The selection of food items Coffee and Company offered has expanded over time as well.
Cider may be served at the next breakfast, Smith and Taylor said.
"[Nov.] 19th is going to be the one-year anniversary and make sure you come because they told me they were going to have cake," said Ralph Larson, Quartermaster of the Veterans of Foreign War Post 3143.
The cake will be half chocolate and half vanilla. Smith, who has a background in making wedding cakes, will be baking it. The ladies will also be giving out pencils with "Coffee and Company" on it.
"[The food is] very good," said Bonnie Wilcox. "I think it's wonderful for people who like to get out or maybe have a hard time fixing meals and stuff. With the volunteers I think it's a wonderful thing that they do."
All the food is prepared at the VFW. Taylor and Smith, along with other volunteers, come in at 7 a.m. to prepare the spread and feed the hungry between 8 and 10 a.m.
"It's not like [the guests] actually need a meal, they come for the companionship, they look forward to it," Taylor said.
"[The VFW members are] really happy that we're there because then a lot of the vets come too and they get to sit and talk," Smith added.
Coffee and Company began after Taylor noticed a need for morning fellowship.
"Mary, she would come early to work many days so she saw a lot of people roaming the streets. So that was where it kind of started and I always was fascinated with like a soup kitchen or something like that," Smith said. "That's how it all began, she saw the need and then I had the desire then to follow, so that's where it all kind of started."
Taylor and Smith presented the idea for Coffee and Company to the Leadership Oneida County program.
The group liked the concept and helped come up with the name.
"We wouldn't be where we are [without the Leadership Program members]," Taylor said.
The women started by serving coffee and some goods at the Kids In Need building.
"[Guests] thought we were trying to raise money for [Kids In Need], which we weren't," Smith said.
The women liked the idea of serving the meal downtown, it was easier for people who didn't have cars to reach them, but in May they moved to the VFW to accommodate their growing numbers.
On Nov. 5 a record 41 guests were served. Before that date the highest attendance had was 29.
The food comes from Ruby's Pantry, the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry and other sources, the women said.
Other items - such as utensils, plates and fliers - are supplied by Taylor and Smith.
With the growing attendance, Coffee and Company is in need of more volunteers. There are just under 10 people including Taylor and Smith who serve the food.
"It helps you more than it helps them because you come out of your world and you get to be around people and that's what's really cool," Smith said.
Coffee and Company will be offering gift wrapping at Lund and Taylor for donations during the upcoming Holiday Open House Nov. 22.
For more information, or to volunteer, call Taylor at (715) 367-4790 or Smith at (715) 282-5465.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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