Clayton — Members of Cleveland Community Church made a number of hearty meals in minutes last Thursday, but they never got to sample the fruits of their labor.

Instead, the meals went to House of Hope, a home, school and counseling center in Clayton for troubled teenage girls.

About two dozen church members came to Easy Life Meals, a do-it-yourself meal-preparation store, to make entrees for the girls’ home. The meal-makers came from the church’s Connect group, which aids charitable organizations.

“We keep stressing that it’s not all about me,” said Lynn Thomas, who heads up the outreach program with her husband, Ronnie. “There is this whole world out there, and to reach out like that is the most awesome feeling.”

James and Amy New came to the meal-making party with their 3-year-old granddaughter, Lily Parker. They combined olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Tabasco sauce, garlic and Worcestershire sauce and poured it over uncooked shrimp.

“There is nothing more gratifying than to be able to do something like that,” James said after the meal had been placed in a large freezer with accompanying bags of rice and vegetables.

James was thankful to be part of a group like Connect “I just encourage anybody that is just wrapped in the same old thing or nothing is going right for them to attend a church,” he said.

Lily enjoys being in the kitchen with her grandma, and her task was to mix the ingredients for the marinade. “I know she is young, but you got to start somewhere,” Amy said of her granddaughter learning to help others.

Not too far away from the News, Stacey Hill and her daughter, Jamey Leigh, 5, were whipping up six pizzas. They brushed the crusts with olive oil, spread on the pizza sauce and topped it with plenty of cheese. Jamey Leigh smiled and giggled as she placed pepperoni, sausage and assorted vegetables on the pizzas.

Hill said spending time with her daughter in the kitchen was a rare treat. “I looked forward to tonight knowing I was going to be cooking with my daughter,” she said. “We don’t get to do that too much at home because our schedules are so wild. So to take time out to [cook] with each other for somebody else was a great experience.”

Hill, who lives near the Cleveland community, joined the church in January. “We walked in here, and it was like we met family immediately, and then you hear nothing but the word of God,” she said. “I mean, the spirit is all up in that place, and if you leave not knowing who the Lord is, something is wrong with your hearing.”

Easy Life owner Angela Clement and her husband, Todd, admired the church’s efforts to help the community. “I think they are just wonderful to have such giving hearts for the House of Hope and using their own money to bless someone else,” she said.