An edition of the Littleton Independent
WEEK OF AUGUST 1, 2024
VOLUME 23 | ISSUE 35
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How a local church is combating loneliness and the high cost of food BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In the basement of a church, about 100 people gather in a large room to enjoy the company of others – and a free dinner. Many guests look forward to the meal, on the last Tuesday of each month, knowing they can count on it in times when many of their days may lack a healthy meal, or bring no food at all. The free community dinner at the First Presbyterian Church of Littleton started in 2017 after church member Lynda Kizer heard a voice tell her to start feeding her community, she said. “My favorite thing is to see the joy and excitement of the guests arriving, and that will never change,” Kizer said. “They look forward to this. And to think that you can offer something that’s so simple, as a meal, and give people that much joy is very fulfilling.” Since its first meal, which 11 people attended during a hailstorm, the event has grown to serve about 100 people a month, and sometimes more. It is run entirely by volunteers,
Littleton returns to marijuana sales tax question Voters may decide this fall if percentage should increase BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
costs.” Meals have included spaghetti, green chili and chicken casserole, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, barbecue chicken and more. The team also puts together special meals for holiday months, like ham for Easter, chili for Halloween and turkey for Thanksgiving. And,
Littleton City Council members are poised to add a question to November’s ballot that would ask voters if they would fund public safety and mental health partnerships by increasing a tax on recreational marijuana. If the question seems familiar, that’s because it is. Last year, the City Council mulled the same idea. Members were talking about adding a marijuana retail tax question to the ballot, but switched gears at the last minute to support a Tax Payer’s Bill of Rights-related ballot measure. The rationale was that the city wanted to keep voters focused on one issue. “We pulled back because we realized
SEE DINNER, P6
SEE MARIJUANA, P8
People enjoy a free community dinner at the First Presbyterian Church of Littleton. PHOTO COURTESY OF LYNDA KIZER
including Kizer, who coordinates it. Volunteer Ruth Mandrell creates the menu and spends a day or more cooking in the church’s industrial kitchen with other volunteers. “Everything is cooked from scratch,” Kizer said, even the salad dressing. “We know all the ingredients. We are determined that it’s healthy, and it also reduces the
VOICES: 18 | LIFE: 20 | CALENDAR: 23
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