since the spring semester of 2009 when we realized that a student in a wheel chair always hung around during lunch but never had lunch and would gladly take what ever leftovers he was given, we've been making free lunch every day...we started making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and he'd come everyday for a couple...precovid, we made hot dogs, ham and cheese, or tuna so depending on the day you came, as what u got...we also had bread, peanut butter, and jelly available whenever we were open...during covid, monies were available and the cafe provide bentos which usually included starch, cooked/steamed veggies, and a main dish (chicken, fish, or meat)...now that we're back in-person and there are no covid funds to purchase/pay for bento ingredients, we're making sandwiches again, but at least this time, we have other sources for donations so have had cold cuts, tuna, hot dogs, fresh veggies and fruits (when available), and other snacks...we serve about 70 sandwiches a day, mon thru thur, 30-40 on fri, and 15-20 on sat/sun...some days we'll make rice or musubi's and shoyu hot dogs/vienna sausage/spam/corn beef hash/eggs/portugese sausage/chili/pork and beans -- basically what ever donations we have enough of...hahahahahahah...we also have coffee, tea, hot water pot, two refrigerators, one stand alone-stand up freezer for free snacks, food, and drinks...
in addition, we have a free pantry area (canned goods, packaged items, non-refrigerated items) in which people can drop off or take whatever is there...it's a central table that everybody passes so nobody feel shame or embarrassed to look or grab items from the table as everybody passing by seems to look/take...hahahahahahah...
