KINDNESS DISHED OUT ON PICNIC PLATES

Kindness was dished out on paper plates Thursday.

Members of Grace United Methodist Church grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for more than 400 Cape Girardeau Central High School students and staff, who ate lunch on the church parking lot at Broadway and Caruthers.

The meal included potato chips and soft drinks.

Church members cooked 365 hamburgers and 250 hot dogs. The leftover food was donated to the Women's Safe House.

The church served up the lunch as part of Random Acts of Kindness Week.

The free food was a hit with the students, who either walked or drove over from the nearby high school.

"It is a nice idea," said senior Meg Davis as she and other students ate lunch on folding chairs set up in the church parking lot.

For most students it wasn't a tough decision on where to eat lunch. "Free food. It's close. Let's go," Davis said.

"I think it is a nice thing to do," said sophomore Neal Davis. "It is a great thing to get people to come together and have a good time."

He said the lunch was well publicized at school. "They had signs up. They had teachers talk about it."

Sophomore Tosha Smith said, "Everybody likes the word free."

"It is great," she said. "Most churches don't want to get involved in the schools."

Sophomore Matt Stewart sat on top of his car as he wolfed down his lunch. "It is pretty cool," he said.

With 25 minutes for lunch, students don't have a lot of time to grab a bite off campus.

A few students practiced kindness by taking plates of food back to their classroom teachers.

Church member Harold Kuehle said the church had wanted to do something nice for the students for some time.

The church and school have been neighbors for more than 35 years.

"We wanted them to see that the church cares," said Susan Sherrod, director of Christian education.

Sherrod said the church hopes to hold a back-to-school lunch for students this fall.

Church members started cooking at 9:30 a.m.

Sherrod said the students appreciated the meal. "The kids said thank you."

They also picked up after themselves, throwing the paper plates and napkins into trash cans.

"We didn't have to pick up trash," said Sherrod.

English teacher Steve Lukens said teachers and staff enjoyed the lunch. "We thought it was a great gesture toward the school and toward the neighborhood," said Lukens.