Table of Grace Meals Program

Hope Ministries has a long-standing commitment to our community as a local provider of programs and services to the homeless and hungry. Part of that commitment includes our Table of Grace meals program. Table of Grace is one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind in Iowa.

Through our Table of Grace meals program, Hope Ministries is serving more than 12,000 meals each month, usually between 300 and 400 meals each day! Our community meals are served free without regard to race, color, creed or religion.  

Our Table of Grace meals program has several components:

Community Meals: We provide free community meals three times a day, 365 days a year at our Hope Café, a clean and comfortable environment connected to our Bethel Mission facility. We’ve observed that the line outside our Hope Café generally stretches longer at the end of each month, when many families find there is "too much month left at the end of the money." These meals also serve as a form of "homeless prevention," helping impoverished families to avoid needing to make the hard decision of buying groceries instead of paying rent, feeding their family versus paying medical bills, etc.

Meals for our shelter and recovery residents: Hope Ministries provides three meals each day to residents of our three emergency shelter and recovery facilities—Bethel Mission, Door of Faith and Hope Family Center. For men, women and children who were homeless, hungry and hurting prior to entering our doors, having three warm meals a day is a vital part of their recovery. The meals and shelter we provide allow our residents health and peace of mind so they can fully recover from addictions, past abuses and other painful life circumstances.

Special holiday meals: On Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter, we invite the public to join us at our Hope Café for a warm meal. In addition, we also deliver more than 1,500 meals each holiday throughout the greater Des Moines area to anyone who requests a meal.

Food-related Volunteer Opportunities

There are many, many food-related volunteer opportunities at Hope Ministries. We welcome volunteers to help us with everything from serving a meal to preparing food to donating food items. These volunteer opportunities fall within a range of time commitments and cost requirements. You can read about all these food-related volunteer opportunities by clicking here.

Read about how the Des Moines Downtown Farmers Market and Iowa Savings Bank have teamed up with Hope Ministries to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for meals served at Hope Café.

Once a week, residents and meal guests at Hope Café as well as residents at our Door of Faith facility are treated to "Seafood Day" thanks to Red Lobster in West Des Moines which generously provides donations of food.

Brian Ross of WHO-TV 13 in Des Moines and Cedric Tooson, manager of Boston’s Restaurant, dish up donated pizzas for meal guests at our Hope Café.