The Daily Bread of Lenawee

Owning a small, family restaurant was a dream of The Daily Bread of Lenawee founder Charlene Wielfaert. Although this was not financially possible she kept the idea tucked in her heart. Several years later, she gave her heart to the Lord and her restaurant idea turned into a soup kitchen idea.

Charlene decided to talk with a longtime business friend who also thought it was a wonderful idea. So she went on a mission to locate a building on the east side of town and came across the Breakfast Club with a “For Sale” sign in the window. Her heart was uplifted and she pulled over and said to herself “This is it and it will be called The Daily Bread of Lenawee”. Charlene contacted the owner of the building and found out the asking price. The building had all the equipment that was needed but still more money than what she had. Charlene wrote to several businesses and foundations requesting donations and also made an appointment with a mortgage company because she knew she needed to do something quickly before someone else bought it. The afternoon of her appointment with the mortgage company she went to her mailbox and there was an envelope from one of the foundations she had written to requesting assistance. She opened it expecting a denial but instead found a check for the entire amount of the building. Praise God! She thanked Him over and over again.

For the next several months, she and volunteers cleaned and scrubbed the new ministry for the hungry. On March 1, 2001 the first meal was served with only ten people in attendance. Today we are averaging 95 meals per day. We never know how many people will come. One day we may have 75 people and the next we might have 150. Food is the most basic of needs. It is seldom something most of us think about because we have an abundance of it but without food one cannot survive. We offer love, support and nutritious meals in a Christian, non-judgmental atmosphere. The homeless, the elderly on a fixed income, the needy, low income individuals, the disadvantaged, a family that suddenly becomes unemployed, all are welcome with the same openness and respect. We are a “family” that cares about the people who enter our doors. Lasting friendships and positive changes are made and nurtured within our walls.

We are blessed to be supported by our community in a variety of ways. Individuals, churches, businesses and organizations support us through monetary donations as well as food donations and volunteering. The Daily Bread also works with the local probation department and allows individuals to perform community service hours. With only 3 employees (Executive Director, AnneVictoria Smith; Culinary Specialist, Wendy Hallett; and Services Coordinator, Ken Freshcorn), volunteers and community service workers are vital to the success of our program. We rely on the assistance of 3-5 volunteers daily to help serve the meals to our patrons.

Hot meals are provided Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30am-2:15pm and our emergency food pantry is available on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 12:00pm until 2:00pm. If anyone is interested in a volunteer opportunity, please contact us at 517-266-0937 and we can schedule you to volunteer. Food donations can be dropped off Tuesday through Saturday from 8:00am-2:30pm at 302 S. Tecumseh St. Adrian, MI. Monetary donations can be mailed to The Daily Bread PO Box 894 Adrian, MI 49221, or sent online via Paypal to thedailybread@frontier.com.

Due to health reasons, Charlene Wielfaert resigned in March 2004 but we still thank her today because without her dream The Daily Bread of Lenawee wouldn’t exist.