The Monday Meal free supper, hosted on a revolving basis by four churches in Windham and Standish, has been rescued for now by a donation from the Faith Lutheran Church in Windham.

The weekly meal, which has existed since 1999, provides dinners year round to primarily low-income Lakes Region seniors every Monday at 5:30 p.m. But Food & Fellowship Inc., which has run the program since 2002 and relies on municipal, state and private funding, is increasingly struggling to hang on due to insufficient financial support and those willing to volunteer their time to cook and host the dinners.

On Tuesday, the Windham church’s stewardship committee donated $600 to the Monday Meal – providing a huge boost to the program, according to Marcia York, a coordinator for Food & Fellowship, Inc. According to York, the Monday Meal’s annual budget is about $2,500.

“This will significantly help us out quite a lot,” York said. “It resolves the crisis, for sure.”

David Muise, vice president of the Faith Lutheran Windham Church Council, said the donation is the first annual installment of a three-year funding program for the Monday Meal. Muise said church members were not aware of the meal’s precarious financial situation before reading about it in the Lakes Region Weekly.

“We have a number of members here who volunteer with Monday Meals and the prevailing thought here is that this is a long-standing event that is important to our community,” Muise said. “Many of us were unaware of the tight financial status of Monday Meals.”

The Monday Meal, which began as a monthly event, hosts between 30 and 40 people in the cold months, and 50 to 70 in the warm months, according to Janie Brown, the president of the group’s board, with attendance generally increasing in recent years. The event is alternately held at the North Windham Union Church, the Windham Hill United Church of Christ, the Standish Congregational Church, and St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Windham.

According to Terri Moore, the secretary for Food & Fellowship, the group relies heavily on other organizations to purchase and cook the meal. Increasingly, it has been difficult to find organizations that are willing to take on those responsibilities, Moore said.

The doors open for the Monday Meal at 4 p.m. every week in order to provide time for socializing.

David Muise, vice president of the Faith Lutheran Windham Church council, presents a $600 check to the coordinators of the Monday Meal, which is run by Food & Fellowship, Inc. From left are Ben LaWind, Marcia York, Muise and Janie Brown.Staff photo by Ezra Silk