Meet Greg Waid | Founder, Leader and Mentor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Greg Waid and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Greg, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Our Community Table is a faith-based ministry that is bringing churches and the community together to help those in need. What we started on April 10th, 2020 has grown to become a well-recognized ministry that targets local families in need of food. We believe we are bringing a sense of Hope and Peace to those who are struggling in this economy.

Ministry Vision:
Our vision is to expand the ministry to ensure that no one should have to do without a meal. We have expanded the ministry to eight stations in Martin County (Stuart – Hobe Sound – Indiantown) to feed the bodies and souls of those who are less fortunate all around us. We are in the planning stages of expanding outside of Martin County, to opening our first station in St Lucie County, to recently expanding outside of the US to Columbia, South America working closely with our missionary partners. It’s exciting to see how the Lord is working through your efforts!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a child I grew up in the same poverty levels as most of if not poorer than those we are serving in our communities. I remember going to the health department with my mother and my two brothers to get free cheese and milk. We grew up in a home with no A/C – we had no washer and dryer so we washed our clothes in a tub – no heat source other than the stoves oven – wore hand me downs from other families and etc. As I grew up and started working in the sales I always felt that the Lord was placing it on my heart to give back to those who are less fortunate.

So that is what we did – In 2014 we started feeding those who are less fortunate on Thanksgiving in Charlotte area in NC This led to feeding the less fortunate the last Saturday of every month. At that time we offered our guests a Five Star quality meal, free haircuts, offered a clothing closet, prayer room, child activities and time with other adults to talk and get to know everyone.

It was always my vision to expand outside of NC and when I accepted a new position for work that brought me down to FL. Not knowing at the time of the pandemic was the time that for me to start Our Community Table Palm City. From April 10th 2020 to date we are have served more than 183,000 meals in Martin County plus another 30,000 meals for Colombia South America which started in November of 2021. Starting this ministry prior to April of 2020 I was seeking for for help from different agencies to partner with many said let those that know what they are doing do what they know how to do and you try and join them when this is all over with. Little did they know the power of my God and what He can do that others can not do. He opened doors, He blessed me with the finances, with the contacts that were willing to help and the volunteers to grow it to what it is today

We are the only nonprofit in Martin that goes to the people proving free meals and we do this every Saturday vs the people having to go to a location to receive any kind of help. We are averaging 1300 to 1400 meals every Saturday – rain or shine we are always there and will be there no matter what. We do not cater to the homeless population although if they come to us we will offer a free meal to them but we cater to those we call the forgotten ones – the ones that struggling to make ends meet.

We can proudly say that we are a nonprofit that has zero salaries and zero payrolls – 100% of our organization is all volunteer based. We have to fill about 60 to 70 spots each week to do what we do every Saturday to meet the needs of what it takes to have a successful Saturday. We have yet not had enough volunteers to fill each spot needed. God provides!

We can proudly say we have zero waste and that 100% of all the food that gets cooked is given out. We run out of food every week. We do not have a need for refrigeration and large commercial freezers – our food comes in we cook it and it is delivered to those in need.

We don’t have the need for a commercial kitchen. All of our food gets prepared on our smokers – locally is not a commercial kitchen that can accommodate the amount of food in the time we can cook then plate the food. From the time our cook teams arrives around 7am to load up all the things we need for the morning the food is cooked and ready for our plating teams to come in at 10am. Approximately 45 minutes later we will have plated 1300 to 1400 meals and 30 minutes after each station lead arrives at their station each is all out of food. It is an amazing process to see from the start to finish.

Growing this ministry has had its challenges for sure but I have learned to pray through every need knowing and trusting that God will provide and make a way which He has. We believe our ministry model can be implemented anywhere and it is our vision to cover the state of Florida and beyond. We are becoming a well recognized organization here in Martin County and we contribute this success to all the hearts who come to serve that care about those who are less fortunate in our communities.

I apologize for my grammar!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We enjoy time out for dinners out. Couple of our favorite places are Sailors Return – Hurricanes Palm City. We love hanging out on the local beaches and some of the local hot spots on the water like Shuckers and Kyle G’s.

But our favorite place to be and encourage all of our friends to come and experience is serving with Our Community Table. The joy you get from serving those who are struggling knowing that we are the only food source they may have for the weekend is what makes OCT all worth while and what we all look forward to every Saturday. We are bringing a sense of hope and peace to those who need and there is no greater joy than knowing you were able to bless someone that is truly in need. These people know us by name and we know them and their families by name.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It is only God who has blessed me with the vision and placed it on my heart to build and grow this ministry to help those forgotten ones – A shoutout to all the hundreds of volunteers who have helped us grow this ministry to what it is today.

Website: https://ourcommunitytableministries.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourcommunitytable_martincounty/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066760473206

Other: https://www.facebook.com/OCTESCOLOMBIA