BEMIDJI — The basement of the Mt. Zion Church in Bemidji is a busy place, like many church basements in Northern Minnesota.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, volunteers with Bemidji Community Table work there, preparing a meal.
Some, like Roy Blackwood, have donated time for decades to this simple mission: a meal, for free, for everyone.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations like Bemidji Community Table had to adapt to social distancing and lockdown orders. Community Table transitioned to distributing sack lunches instead of the traditional hot meal. Volunteers like Blackwood and his wife, Laurie Buehler, took on more responsibilities to assist their neighbors in uncertain times.
“Well, we did COVID for two-and-a-half years and put together 16,000 sack dinners and my wife did the making the sandwich and all that stuff, and I put the rest of the stuff that we had in with it,” Blackwood said.
“And when COVID went away and we came, went down here (to Mt. Zion), I told them I don't want to cook anymore.”
Community Table resumed in-person service in November 2022, with meals served 5-6 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays at Mt. Zion Church, and Wednesdays and Thursdays at United Methodist in Bemidji.
Blackwood and Buehler began volunteering for Community Table in the 1990s, while Blackwood was still teaching mass communications at Bemidji State University.
“I worked in the kitchen duty sometimes in the Marine Corps,” said Blackwood, who cooked the hot meals for Community Table for years.
He explained the organization, known then as Bemidji Soup Kitchen, was in search of a cook. He volunteered to fill in until organizers deemed him the permanent cook, with Buehler also taking on the role.
“At Community Table, we like the idea that we bring in people from all kinds of segments of the community,” Buehler said. "We've got older folks, who are widowed or may have a spouse at home whose health is not good, and they come and eat and pick up a meal to take home with them. Just seeing people that you see across the community, it makes a connection with them.”
David Pecora is a physician's assistant who has volunteered with Community Table for several years. He said he learned a lot working alongside Blackwood and Buehler.
“With Roy and his wife Laurie, I started in about 2017 and I come on and off. I'm not consistent like they are, but when I get a chance, I try to come at least on Mondays,” Pecora said. "Just to help out these people ... it gives a lot back to me, in my mind and in my soul. And it's just it makes me feel good to help them.”
"I'm 79 years old and I don't want to sit around."Roy Blackwood
Blackwood has stepped back from a few roles in his zealous volunteer efforts with the Cass Lake Food Shelf, Northwoods Habitat for Humanity, Cass County’s Faith in Action, Special Olympics, as well as Bemidji Community Table.
“I'm 79 years old and I don't want to sit around,” he said. “I'm going to do things for people. People will say to me, ‘Oh, you're so good to do these nice things for these people.’ I say I'm not. I'm doing it for me, because it makes me feel so good. It has just brought so much joy to my life.”
Blackwood retired in 2005 from the university, and he began dedicating even more time to volunteer efforts.
Geri Hickerson, executive director of Northwoods Habitat for Humanity, credits Blackwood for helping make homeownership a reality for his neighbors and his impact on Habitat’s A Brush with Kindness program.
A Brush with Kindness assists low-income homeowners with exterior home improvements, including wheelchair ramps. Hickerson said Blackwood would do the scope of work for these projects and coordinate his own volunteers.
“Habitat wouldn't have done half of what we're doing with our repair program now without Roy,” Hickerson said. “None of that would've happened. Eighty-four projects, I don’t think any of them would have been done.”
Blackwood recalled a few moments when he assisted a wheelchair-bound man with some projects.
“We built wheelchair ramp for him. Then a year or so later, he contacted us and asked if we could replace the carpet in his bedroom," Blackwood said. "Found out that he didn't need a carpet down, he needed a new floor.”
Blackwood assisted his volunteers with the project and after they packed up the tools, he visited with the homeowner.
“I went back in to tell him we have the carpet down and if he wanted to see it,” Blackwood said.
The emotional response from the homeowner and the countless other interactions he has had over the decades of serving others are what keep him coming back.
"I think Roy has a really strong faith. He sometimes comes off as kind of cranky, but he has the softest heart, the kindest heart of any person I've ever known."Geri Hickerson, executive director, Northwoods Habitat for Humanity
“I've been part of it,” he said. “That's as good as any reason to keep doing it.”
Hickerson also credits Blackwood with helping to build more than 60 Habitat homes in Beltrami County.
“I think Roy has a really strong faith. He sometimes comes off as kind of cranky, but he has the softest heart, the kindest heart of any person I've ever known,” Hickerson said.
Blackwood and Buehler are members of Trinity Lutheran Church, where they are also involved.
“There is always room for more people,” said Buehler, who encourages all who can to spend some time volunteering.
"You don't really need any special skills. It's a good place to get a different view of the community. I think that's important that people have a sense that to make the community work, we need people willing to make the community work.”
Participation in volunteer efforts have declined since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These longtime volunteers say the work is always worth it.
“I just wish people could understand that they're no better or worse than anybody else. (These people we’re helping are) just like anybody else,” Blackwood said.
“How do you say why you stick with something?” Buehler added. “It's a choice about how you want to spend your time.”
