George Garcia ate lunch for free Monday at a new deli in downtown La Crosse. He returned the next day to clean tables.

Peace and Coffee opened Nov. 2 in the Crossfire Youth Center, 422 Main St. The food and contemporary coffee shop ambiance doesn't cost a penny, but donations - or a hand with the dust pan and broom - are gladly accepted.

The atmosphere was a pleasant change for Garcia, who hasn't found steady work or a place to live since he moved to La Crosse from Boston two years ago. He has been "feeling lost," and wanted to do something productive, he said.

It was nice to come in and have "a civil conversation with someone," he said.

"You go outside and see people in day-to-day life worried about themselves - not worried about the person next to them," he said. "For all they know, the person next to them could be starving to death."

Reaching out to people like Garcia is the central mission of Peace and Coffee, which is part of the nonprofit Renaissance Center that started more than a month ago. It also includes No Roof, a house for the homeless at 726 Cameron St.

"A lot of organizations will say, 'Here is food and a place to stay, but you don't need to do anything.' We expect you to do something," said Joe Roraff, a key volunteer behind the center.

The partnership with Crossfire allows them to run the deli and coffee shop during the day, when the site isn't used for youth activities.

Roraff hopes to attract both the hungry willing to pitch in and those who can donate to support the mission of Peace and Coffee.

Ten volunteers were in the kitchen and behind the counter Tuesday. Kwik Trip donated about $300 worth of meat, and customers have been generous - one paid $100 for a sandwich and soup Monday, said Joel Baxley, another key volunteer.

"So far, God has provided us with everything we have," said Baxley.

Volunteer Curt Huwald was homeless two months ago, finding ways to come up with quick cash for drugs and alcohol, he said.

"God was chasing me for awhile, but I was fighting it," Huwald said. But eventually the message to change was "too strong to ignore."

He said he felt the generosity and love of the people behind Peace and Coffee and No Roof.

"God has blessed me to the extent that I feel there is love to give back - that and I have a knack for making sandwiches," he said with a grin.

Peace and Coffee is not like some shelters that "treat homelessness like a disease," said Huwald.

"These people are trying to instill in people some dignity and it goes a lot further," he said.

For more information on Peace and Coffee, go to www.renacen.org.