From the late hours of Tuesday, Dec. 17, until the wee morning hours of Wednesday, Dec. 18, campus religious leaders will be cooking and serving a free breakfast to any and all UD students who are burning the midnight oil preparing for finals.

The annual Midnight Breakfast, held each year in the lower level of Newark United Methodist Church, 69 East Main St., is a service project that has grown from serving just 15 students six years ago to serving nearly 400 students last year.

Begun by Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry students and friends, the event has grown so popular that the entire Religious and Spiritual Life Concerns Caucus now pitches in to meet the demand for late-night sustenance.

”There is usually a line of students waiting for the chocolate chip or plain pancakes, sausage, fruit salad, bagels with cream cheese, doughnuts, pastries, orange juice, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and of course, whipped cream for the pancakes,” the Rev. Laura Lee C. Wilson, chair of the caucus, said.

“All the members of the Religious and Spiritual Life Concerns Caucus supply the food, cook the food and serve students with smiles,” she added. “The students are so deeply appreciative, they leave asking when the next one will be held. It’s a great night!”

Religious leaders begin preparing the food around 9 p.m. and usually don’t leave the church until about 3 a.m. Students interested in attending need only to show up at the church from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Article by Beth Thomas