For area residents who may need a free meal or some fellowship, a group of concerned residents has created the Care Kitchen every Friday.

The Care Kitchen is held at the Polk Baptist Association basement every Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. where area residents can get a hot meal for free if needed. Donations are also accepted to keep the program going.

The idea started with Reba Hudgins and Angie Levi who said during an ice storm a couple of years ago they were worried that some of their neighbors may not be getting proper nutrition.

The group began meeting in March and presented the idea to area churches with Hickory Grove Baptist, Pea Ridge Baptist and Mountain Valley Baptist participating.

The Polk Baptist Association agreed to house the kitchen in the downstairs of the building.

Things got off to a slow start, but Hudgins said the volunteers were dedicated and wouldn’t give up.

“We just went to work at it,” said Hudgins. “These workers are the most dedicated there are. Even when we had no one to show up to begin with they didn’t give up.”

The record so far is 36 meals served in one day. Last week the Care Kitchen served 25 meals, consisting of hot dogs, baked beans, coleslaw, chips, drinks and desserts.

This Friday the main dish will be taco salad.