Holy Grill Mobile Feeding Ministry Expands

New food truck doubles cooking capacity for those in need.

For Immediate Release ….                                                        April 20, 2024

A new, state-of-the-art food truck purchased by St. Nicholas Episcopal Church’s signature ministry, the Holy Grill Mobile Feeding Ministry, doubles the capacity for meal preparation to serve those in need, bringing hope and dignity while building bridges in the community.

This custom-equipped, mobile kitchen, dubbed Holy Grill 2.0, will carry on the mission that began eight years ago when the church purchased a used food trailer and renovated it to become the original Holy Grill. Since that time, over 61,000 hot, sprit-lifting meals have been served to the unhoused, unemployed, working poor and food insecure families with children. Holy Grill 2.0 will grow the mission’s purpose and presence, enhancing its ability to support first responders and victims in the wake of a natural disaster, providing food, ice and water to affected areas.

“We focus on living the New Commandment – loving as we are loved,” said The Reverend Mark Andrew Jones, BSG, Rector of St. Nicholas church. “To feed the bodies and souls of people in need we go outside the walls of the sanctuary and beyond the boundaries of fixed sites, meeting people where they are. It’s about respecting the dignity of every human being. We try not to take ourselves too seriously. After all, there is a God and it’s not us; so we focus on loving as we are loved by God.”

Funding for the Holy Grill has been generated, in part, by participation as a food vendor at regional festivals. The Holy Grill is well known, for example, at the Florida Keys Celtic Fest held in Marathon each January and at the Highland Games and Scottish Festival held every March in Plantation, where the Holy Grill serves Guinness-Battered Fish ‘n Chips, Scotch Eggs, Bangers ‘n Mash, and Shepherd’s Pie. The Holy Grill also raises money from grants, fundraising events and private donations to keep the “manna in motion.”

To contribute to the Holy Grill Mobile Feeding Ministry, please visit the website:
https:// stnicholasfl.org/the-holy-grill/

The Holy Grill Mobile Feeding Ministry is the signature ministry of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church. Since the late 1980s, St. Nicholas’ outreach programs have embraced the needs of the unhoused and extended to St. Laurence Chapel Homeless Day Shelter, nearly seven miles from the church. Connecting the good works of these two separate facilities created an additional hardship for those being served as their only option to receive a meal was to walk all those miles, contributing adversely to their already compromised medical conditions. To close the gap between locations and reduce that burden, a mobile feeding option was needed. In 2016, the Holy Grill Feeding Ministry launched its legacy rig in the form of a used food trailer and since then has served over 61,000 hot, sprit-lifting meals to the unhoused, unemployed, working poor and food insecure families with children.

Contact:
The Reverend Mark Andrew Jones, BSG
markandrew@stnicholasfl.org
St. Nicholas Episcopal Church
1111 E. Sample Road
Pompano Beach, FL 33065
(954) 942-5763