As if a dinner bell had sounded, the line outside the Salvation Army started forming at 4:50 p.m. on a Tuesday night in January. People shuffled toward the door, many laden with heavy backpacks, in anticipation of the free community meal that is served up every night of the week except Sunday — open to all, no questions asked. About a dozen people waited along South Champlain Street in downtown Burlington in the winter dusk, some engaged in muffled conversation. Most were regulars at "Sally's," the nickname they've bestowed on the Salvation Army to make it sound more like a hometown diner. Jamaican-born "Birdman" — "'Cause my middle name's Bird, and I'm a man" — was among them. He's a fixture in downtown Burlington, known for pushing a shopping cart he fills with redeemable cans. Birdman wore sunglasses in spite of the overcast, darkening sky. Around his neck hung a tangled mass of green and white Mardi Gras beads and a Vermont Strong license plate. Birdman writes his own raps and was more than happy to show them off to a reporter on the sidewalk, grinning as he swayed to his own rhythmic monotone. Next to him was a mostly empty Bud Ice can. "Don't mind that," he said, pushing it aside. The Salvation Army doors opened at the stroke of five, and the line snaked in. The smell of smoke lingered, even after many had extinguished their cigarettes against the outside of the brick building. It was beef stew night, courtesy of St. John Vianney Church in South Burlington. Parishioners had cooked up vats of it earlier that afternoon, said Kate Boucher, who organized the effort. Steam from the kitchen billowed into the hallway. The ingredients arrive twice weekly, donated by local supermarkets and delivered by the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, said Jessica Gokey, the Salvation Army's paid kitchen supervisor. Gokey oversees operations most nights and cooks dinners when volunteers haven't signed up to take her place. The dining room has the sterile, dingy feel of a high school cafeteria, owing to the linoleum floor and florescent lights. But Sunday school-style posters of Jesus and a prayer of St. Francis adorn the walls. One volunteer shoveled out portions of beef, potatoes, carrots and peas from tinfoil-covered pots into Styrofoam cups. "Stew?" she asked, again and again. Another dished out lettuce salad onto Styrofoam plates, with a spongy…