Near the entrance to The Spa Wellness Center is a framed photograph lightly faded of around 80 abuelas in shawls, aprons and long dresses and a handful of bewiskered abuelos grouped on the steps of a Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel courtyard. Some hold canes and walking sticks. Many have woven shopping bags.

At the bottom of the picture is the bold caption:

SO OTHERS MAY EAT
Since 1989 Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel

The picture was taken a little more than five blocks from the Spa’s new home at Santo Domingo #12. It may be hard to imagine what possible connection there could be between the pampering attention of a masseuse and a program that every Wednesday for 35 years has been providing lunch, entertainment, attention and love to as many as 120 of San Miguel de Allendes oldest and poorest citizens.

There is a connection. And it runs to the very roots of both organizations.

So Others May Eat celebrated its 35th year this past Wednesday, February 21st.

I know this because as I was stopping by the Spa with Rose Alcantara to pick up her yoga mat we encountered that unstoppable supernova of human energy otherwise known as Dr. Grace Lim. She burst out of her medical office — hugs all around — and immediately started in: “Today is the 35th Anniversary of So Others May Eat! Come on down and join us! I’m heading down in a few minutes! You will really love it! We can use your help! Come on!” It’ll be fun!

This of course is a paraphrase. Anyone who knows Dr. Grace is wowed by her enthusiasm, energy and — most appropriately — grace. For years at every checkup, we have talked about So Others May Eat (SOME) for years she has invited me to volunteer. (And for years, I promised that I would. And I meant it.)

Did I mention that in addition to her medical practice, Dr. Grace runs both The Spa and So Others May Eat? And I suspect that only touches the surface of her involvement in our community.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Spa got its start in 1984. Its founder, Antoinette Lim, was Dr. Grace’s mother. Antonette Lim was also the director of the Sunday School Program at the Parroquia and it is there that she noticed how badly served were the elderly abuelas who often came to pick up their grandchildren.

Drawing on her own childhood experiences in the Philippines where her farming parents distributed a portion of their crops to the poor and hungry, Antonette and her husband Joseph Lim started (SOME) on a Wednesday in 1989 with 11 of the grandparents. In time, the program fed as many as 220 senior citizens — they must be at least 60 years old, most are much older — and currently have settled on 120.

When Antonette Lim died in 2016, Dr. Grace and her husband moved their medical practices from Mexico City to San Miguel and Grace picked up the mantle of her mother.

Here’s the first thing that I learned when I got to the Parroquia to volunteer: 20 percent of every massage, facial, and hot stone treatment at The Spa goes to sustaining So Others May Eat. Also, The Spa has taken a hit since moving from Centro proper to Santo Domingo on January 1. A lot of longtime clients think the Spa folded.

Getting the word out on things like this is hard because — well, because our lone newspaper folded. Word of mouth takes a business only so far.

I did discover that there is no shortage of volunteers to keep So Others May Eat bustling along every Wednesday. As a newcomer, I was met by Margaret, one of three leaders and with a half-dozen other newcomers we got the drill down.

The lunch crowd starts with Mass inside the Parroquia at noon and, depending on how enthusiastic and long the sermon is, they start filing in around 12:30 or 12:45 p.m., through the underground tunnel and into the nicely covered and cool courtyard in the back.

Many of the volunteers line up to greet the guests with smiles and cheery rounds of ¡Buen día! ¡Bienvenido! and ¡Buen provecho! A lot of the guests are greeted like old friends because they are and many have their favorite tables where they gather with friends who can go back eight decades.

The meal on this day is extraordinary, in celebration of the 35th anniversary. It starts with a tall glass of horchata, fruit, a hearty soup, and a substantial salad.

While these are being served, the band sets up on stage and Dr. Grace serves as MC, welcoming one and all, eliciting cheers, and providing thanks. One guest sings an invocation and another provides a hearty prayer of thanksgiving over the day’s meal.

The main course this day is a porkchop, beans, and rice covered in mole with tortillas and tamales on the side of the plate. The tamales were funded with a gift from a volunteer. There is an anniversary cake that says “Gracias” on top — donated by the Panio bakery — jello “shots,” and traditional pasteles for all.

Every guest is given a sealable baggie when they enter the courtyard and many bring containers. By design, there is more food on a plate than a single person could consume. “For some of these people,” a longtime volunteer told me, “this lunch will be stretched over several days. It is their biggest meal all week.”

There isn’t a scrap left at the end of the meal. Every bit is passed out to the guests.

While the meal is being served, Dr. Grace is circulating among the tables. She jokes, cajoles, hugs, and greets guests like long-lost friends. But she is also on the alert for those who may be unwell or in need of special attention. For many, she is their only contact with medical care. The longtime volunteers are on the alert as well to look for guests who may need help.

At one point, a beautifully dressed woman with the demeanor of an angel stands up and sings. She is known to all as Doña Guti and everyone looks forward to her apparel, apparently hand-made. “Last week, because it was Ash Wednesday, she wore the most beautiful white lace veil,” said one helper. “I think she made it herself!”

Doña Guti sings two beautiful songs with the band and modestly acknowledges the hearty applause from volunteers and guests. There are a couple of audience participation numbers too in which guests hop up on the stage and take marimbas and percussion instruments and play and sway and sing along.

As is tradition, the guests bus their own tables, and all the plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, and glasses are piled near two washtubs. Dr. Grace pays a few of the guests to handle the cleaning of the utensils. “It provides them with a small income that they wouldn’t otherwise have but badly need,” one person explained.

I walked out of that luncheon profoundly moved and humbled, not only by the quiet grace of the guests who come week after week, but by the volunteers who do the same. This time of year, the volunteer ranks are usually filled out with “snowbirds” but when high season ends the regulars can sometimes end up scrambling to serve 120 lunches as quickly as possible.

Did my presence make a difference? Probably not but I got to learn how the whole show unfolds and after a few weeks I may be elevated to the rank of “useful.” I hope so. I’ll be back. This has been my best Wednesday afternoon in ages. I like the feeling of being part of So Others May Eat.

I look forward to celebrating its 40th anniversary — maybe with one of the S.O.M.E. aprons that regulars wear — with my own name embroidered on it! (To those who were working the food line on Wednesday, my name is not “Liz.”)

Go to the So Others May Eat website to learn how you can help.

Visit The Spa website to learn about their new location and services.