Donations of kitchen equipment expected to aid food service at Community Cafe

Preparing and serving meals at the Community Cafe just got a little easier thanks to the donation of an industrial-size can opener.

Members of the Sedalia Rotary Club, who are part of the monthly rotation of volunteers at the Community Cafe, gathered at the John and Bernice Ditzfeld Center on Monday afternoon to unveil the new appliance.

Vera Chrismer, Sedalia Rotary Club community-service chairwoman, said the cafe was in dire need of the kitchen implement because standard-size can handheld openers would break when they attempted to open the commercial canned goods.

“The small can openers would just break,” Chrismer said. “We’ve spent almost a year fighting with these big cans.”

The can opener was donated by Pettis County Sheriff Kevin Bond, who serves on the Rotary board of directors.

Bond said the can opener was used in the old Pettis County Jail. Bond cleaned and oiled the opener before donating it to the cafe. The opener is valued at about $400.

“We knew we still had some pieces in storage from the old jail,” Bond said, “and the opener wasn’t usable at the new jail.”

Chrismer said Duke Manufacturing donated the table and Sedalia Rotary Club member Ben Embree volunteered his time to mount the opener to the table.

“It was a group effort,” Chrismer said.

The donation totaled $1,100.

Chrismer said the table also will serve as a food preparation area and storage.

“We’re happy to get the donation,” Chrismer said, “and we’re excited about it as well.”