FREE MEAL CENTER FINALLY MOVING FORWARD TOWARDS OPENING
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MIDDLE TWP.--It's been nearly two years in the works, but the center that wants to provide free, nutritious meals to the public is finally starting to come together. There's a lot of work that's been done in that time at The Free Meal Center, but there's still some left to go.

"I get phone calls literally everyday of the year from people saying, what time are you open today? And I have to tell them we're not open yet." It's news that Douglas Jewell hates to deliver, but the reality is, The Free Meal Center in Middle Township, still has work to be done.
"That's not something we're happy about, but it is what it is," said Jewell, the chairperson, "We want to do everything right, and another thing is all of our contractors are basically working gratis."

While they had hoped to have the center open by now, serving free, nutritious meals to anyone and everyone, there were several unforeseen setbacks, but they're now finally moving ahead. "It's gonna come along quick now," Jewell explained, "because it's been a backwards process for a year and a half undoing stuff and getting everything prepared to do it right, and we'll be moving forward pretty quick now." The extra time put into the project will ultimately result in a better facility. "We just decided, let's do it right the first time."

While the building may be gutted, they've already got a lot of stuff, including three storage units worth of kitchen equipment. Jewell says for now though, anything of value is being kept anywhere but there. "We've been robbed now 11 times," he explained, the last one happening around Labor day, "nine of the robberies were for metal, so we can't really keep anything around that's metal."

But, soon a new complex surveillance system will be in place to watch over the building and all of it's contents, which will hopefully be up and running to serve the community by late winter. "Should I say Rome wasn't built in a day," he said laughing, "but we're coming along with it."

Lots of time, work, and materials have already been donated, but more money is still needed for The Free Meal Center, and cash is the best. Anyone who wants to help, can click here for more information.