News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Christina Kihn, director of the Center of Charity in Alpena, writes on the Friendship Room menu board on Thursday.

ALPENA — Center of Charity Director Christina Kihn wants the community to know that the Friendship Room in Alpena is back up and running since the structure fire that occurred there in November.

The Friendship Room is a soup kitchen that has been serving warm meals to those in need for 35 years, six days a week, and serves on average 1,660 meals per month.

Kihn said the number of people coming for dinner Monday through Saturday has generally been lower since they reopened in January. Prior to the fire, the Friendship Room served between 80 and 100 people each night, but lately it has only seen about 35 to 80.

“We’ve been seeing really scattered numbers,” Kihn said. “I don’t know if it’s because…the weather has been funky…or if people just don’t know that we’re back and we’re open, and we’re more than happy to help with food.”

The Friendship room serves food from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Kihn said that people always wonder what kind of food they serve each night. They serve a wide variety of meals, including sandwiches, beef stew, sausage, chicken pot pie, sloppy joes, and more. There is always a choice of salad and dessert.

“We’d love to help as many people as possible,” Kihn said. “Its not just if you’re homeless or anything like that, we also are here because it’s a friendship room.”

She emphasized the importance of socializing for us as humans.

The fire caused smoke damage throughout most of the building, Kihn said. The front hallway was completely black. The fire originated in the boiler room but the actual cause is unknown, although it is likely that something rolled under the boiler and caught on fire.

Kihn said that David McCoy helped assemble a team whose efforts were instrumental in securing a new hot water heater. D&K Heating and Plumbing, Lake Shore Heating and Plumbing, and Jason Pemberton all generously donated time toward the installation and maintenance of both the hot water heater and the pneumatic controls for the boiler.

“They bought us a brand new hot water heater,” Kihn said. “We’ll never have to worry about it ever again.”

Other businesses around Alpena helped get the food pantry restocked, including Gordon Foods, Perch’s IGA, Nowicki’s Sausage Shop, Starbucks, and Save-A-Lot.

HPC Credit Union donated $20,000 to purchase food as well, Kihn said.

“The reopening of the Friendship Room would not have been possible without this remarkable network of partners, volunteers, and benefactors,” Kihn said in a statement. “While we celebrate this important milestone, we also recognize that our work is not yet complete. We anticipate an additional two to three months of restoration before we are fully operational. Even so, we move forward with confidence in our team and our Parish as we continue advancing our mission of serving those in need–embodying Christ’s call in Matthew 25:35: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.'”

Reagan Voetberg. News Staff Writer. rvoetberg@thealpenanews.com.