The head chef creates her meals from donated food. She hopes word will get out and more donations will come in.

Three blocks or so away from the core of the city's lunch spots Dobie Wilbur anticipates his noontime meal.

It's a Wednesday and that means a generous helping of chicken dumpling soup steams in front of him, next to his large, leather-bound Bible and his own sandwich bag filled with quartered oranges.

"This is the best lunch in town," Wilbur said, preparing for serious eating as soon as God's grace is sought over the gathering.

Debbie Tiner can't help but smile from the kitchen doorway at Vineyard Free Methodist Church. She, along with a potful of other church members, is part of the work force behind the church's new soup kitchen.

Tables filling with hungry folks is currency for a morning of labor.

The day outside is indisputably gray, but the dining hall inside the little church nearly glows.

Candles are lit and a single flower in a vase is backlit in a window. Diners greet each other as they gather a dessert, fresh garlic bread and a bowl of the chunky soup fortified with thick carrot slices and homemade noodles.

Tiner - who, along with her husband Michael, is raising 10 children - has been cooking since she was 14. Beginning her Wednesdays in the kitchen at 8 a.m., the 48-year-old makes enough food to feed a small army.