Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church: Wilmington, DE

Three facilities provide nutritious meals daily to the hungry. The original Dining Room opened on November 30, 1979.  It now has three locations: one on the west side of Wilmington at 121 North Jackson Street, one on the east side of Wilmington at 226 North Walnut Street, and one in New Castle at 500 Rogers Road. The heart of this program lies in the ongoing support of over 90 churches, synagogues and civic groups that prepare and serve meals on a rotating basis.

Red Clay serves a meal at the Walnut Street facility on the 28th day of each month.  To volunteer for one of our serving teams, please see the current schedule for coordinating contacts.  Financial donations are also welcomed.

Personal Testimony

Contributed by Paul Neutz

On the 28th of each month you can have a chance to feel good and help folks that do not enjoy the quality of life that we do.

The day starts about 9:30 AM in the kitchen of RCCPC where a group of 4 or 5 smiling people get together to prepare the World Famous chili that will feed as many as 190 -220 people, who would not otherwise get a warm meal that day.

A couple of people open the cans of beans, tomato sauce, and crushed tomatoes and put them into 4 large cook pots. Two other people cook the 40 pounds of ground beef which is then added to the pots. Everyone then works together to clean up the cookware and the kitchen. This entire process takes at the most an hour.

The mouth watering, nourishing chili, a bag of rice (uncooked), 6 or so boxes of cookies, and boxes of bananas are then loaded into a vehicle and at least 3 people transport the meal to the Emmanuel Dining Room located adjacent to the Wilmington train station. Your vehicle is unloaded and then you can then either stay in the dining room or walk to the Riverfront area and enjoy a cup of coffee to wait until the serving time of 12 Noon. 

During the wait time the rice is cooked and the chili transferred from the cook pots to warming /serving trays.

At 12 Noon sharp the doors are opened and the real miracle takes place. The volunteers from RCCPC place cookies and a piece of fruit onto the serving plates and then add a helping of rice and chili. The plates are then distributed to the people who are in need of a hot meal. At 1PM sharp the doors are closed, you load up the clean empty pots and go home. 

You will see a wide assortment of people in need, from elderly to little children. I can tell you from firsthand experience that you will get a deep warm feeling that is only surpassed by the friendly handshake or the heartfelt - THANK YOU - given to you as people leave the dining room.

EDR Schedule of Volunteer Contacts