100 Church, located inside a storefront in North Port, began offering free community dinners in October 2020, when many churches had stopped providing such services due to the government’s COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. That same year, 100 Church provided shelter to anyone needing a place to stay.
Cheryl Reber, who founded 100 Church in 2019, told The Christian Post, “We’re just a small, local church, and we asked the Lord to show us how we could serve our community.”
Most people who shelter at the church have their own bedding, as many are homeless and used to sleeping outside. The church still provides bedding and hygiene items to those who need them, even if it only shelters people during inclement weather conditions.
News of the church’s efforts has spread via word of mouth and through local media coverage, which has allowed it to expand its resources to those in the community who aren’t homeless but still need a place to shelter.
The church holds the free community dinners for around an hour every day. Depending on the day of the week or the time of the month, the church serves between 15 to 35 people, and has around 35 cooks who regularly sign up to make the dinners.
Reber said that many in the congregation are homeless themselves, which means they cannot afford to help fund the church’s efforts so she’s arranged a few outside supporters who help fund the ministry.