2022 got off to a frigid start in Oak Harbor, but SPiN was able to step up and offer round-the-clock shelter for two weeks courtesy of our hosts at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. For more on that story, take a look here:
In the first four months of 2022, SPiN provided 2,442 lunches – at St. Stephen’s during the week and at Hal Ramaley Park on weekends – and served on all 120 days in those months, for an average a little over 20 meals a day.
Are you all about great music, excellent food, and time with neighbors who care about SPiN Café?
Get your tickets today for SPiN’s Spring Fling!
Spring has certainly sprung around our gorgeous island. At SPiN, even in the season’s promise we’re reminded of the hard work we need to do every day to serve our community’s most vulnerable citizens – and to keep them safe, fed, and healthy.
SPiN’s Spring Fling is your chance to play a part as we keep that mission going.
Holland Happening is an Oak Harbor tradition. In its sixth decade, the annual spring festival celebrates the town’s Dutch heritage along with the diverse cultures that call North Whidbey Island home.
2022’s event featured an extra fun dive into the deep end of fun. And fundraising.
According to SPiN board member Carol Wall, “we had a great response to our Dunk Tank at Holland Happening. The tank was a benefit effort for SPiN Cafe and the North Whidbey Sunrise Rotary Walk for Water project. These community leaders brought out lots of people to see them go into the dunk tank. It was a fun event and our two groups raised over $2,300.00 to split between us!”
Shane Hoffmire: “this will be a long cherished experience.”
Community leaders who took a bath for SPiN included City Council members Shane Hoffmire, Jim Woessner, Bryan Stucky, and Dan Evans, as well as New Leaf CEO Steve Jacobs and First United Methodist Pastor Dave Parker.
SPiN Café was pretty quiet on a recent Wednesday afternoon. You know how you’re sitting at dinner and it’s loud and chatty and then the food comes and everyone shuts up and eats, because it just tastes and feels so good after a long day?
It was that kind of quiet. A quiet of relief, gratitude, and hope as SPiN’s dinner program spins back to full speed.
Helping hands, back to making real meals for SPiN guests
Executive Director Michele Chapman smiled with that same relief and gratitude as she chatted about the meals, open to all who are hungry. SPiN has struggled to feed guests since late 2019 through COVID, funding challenges, and a change of location.
“We worked extra hard for two years,” Michele says, “just to make sack lunches for our guests. Now it’s wonderful, and our guests are so grateful, that once again we can provide…” she pauses, “…a real meal.”
SPiN is now providing those dinners to 25-30 people on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings.
Real meals were on tables around the room as guests thanked Tangiler, Shirley, Kaya, and Amira for bringing plates piled high with casserole, bread, and vegetables.
With funding from an Island County grant, SPiN restarted dinner service in March, stepping back into a tradition that began when SPiN was founded and paused abruptly two years ago with COVID.
St.Stephen’s Episcopal Church has been a constant through that tough time, welcoming SPiN guests while masking and distancing were required. Michele is grateful for the support, and she laughs that the easing of virus restrictions has brought about more contact with church members. “We have to remind ourselves, we aren’t the only ones here anymore!”
Asked if anything would make the dinner service better, Michele is quick to answer, “more volunteers!” Chef Tangiler cooks the meals at the Presbyterian church and transports the huge trays a few blocks over to St Stephen’s, where volunteers serve to the guests. “We could use a few more people each night to help out.”
On the horizon, the one-time county grant runs out at the end of this year. Michele and the SPiN board have a fundraising task ahead of them, to ensure the future of the program.
For now, though, real meals are a real deal.
SPiN Café’s Day Center is open Monday through Friday, 6:30AM – 5:30PM
Dinners are served Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 4:15PM – 5:30PM
At St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 555 SE Regatta Drive, Oak Harbor
SPiN Cafe 2021 is a success story in rebranding and building a successful organization which has gained the trust and support from local government agencies, businesses and many individuals on Whidbey Island.
We are proud to say that the issues we faced in 2019 are long gone and we are a proud organization of 5 individuals on payroll together with over 30 volunteers, an Executive Director and a volunteer Board of Directors who are all committed to our mission.
