Hoping to help meet the needs of some area families, the twice a month community ‘Love Escalon’ dinners continue to be served at Trinity Church of Escalon.

Meals are hosted at the church the last two Wednesdays of each month, with the February dates set for Feb. 17 and 24.

“We start serving at 6 p.m.,” said Cathleen Chapman, who helps coordinate the dinners. “It really varies, we recently had a taco night, we have had chicken, we could have anything, from breakfast to dinner.”

Cold weather meals have also included soups and casseroles, she said, and the twice a month meals are fairly well attended. Chapman said they would like more people to take advantage of the community service, as the meal is offered for free and can help those having trouble making ends meet as the month wears on.

Along with the meal, the adjacent Clothes Closet at the California Street church opens at 6:30 p.m.

People can visit the clothes closet for a variety of items, whether they need warm weather gear for their children or perhaps a nice outfit for a job interview.

Chapman said families are welcome to attend one or both dinner nights, with plenty of food to go around.

“We have served anywhere from 40 to 100 people,” she said of recent Wednesdays.

This week, with school out of session, there could be a large turnout for the Feb. 17 dinner and Chapman said the church is happy to help make a difference for local families.

“We just want to make sure everybody is fed,” she noted.

Since there are the occasional fifth Wednesdays in a month, Chapman said they decided to set the last two Wednesdays as the scheduled dates for the dinner.

“They only time that changes will be during the holidays,” she said of rescheduling in November and December.

Along with the Feb. 17 and 24 dates, future meals are planned for March 23 and 30; April 20 and 27.

Trinity Church is at 1900 California St., and Chapman said the doors open a little ahead of the meal being served, so people can come and settle in. Dinner is at 6 p.m. the clothes closet opens at 6:30 p.m. and most weeks they are cleaned up and finished with the community event by 7 p.m.

For more information or to get involved in the community meals effort, contact the church at 838-3000.