Soup Kitchen Worker
Insider Info
One day, a teacher asked his class, "How many of you ate breakfast this
morning?"
Only a few children raised their hands. Not surprised, the teacher continued,
"How many of you skipped breakfast this morning because you didn't like breakfast,
or didn't have time for it?" A lot of hands went up.
The teacher was fairly sure why the remaining children hadn't eaten, but
he didn't like to ask them about poverty. Instead, he asked, "How many of
you skipped breakfast today because your family just doesn't usually eat breakfast?"
More children raised their hands.
But one small boy in the back had not raised his hand. "And why didn't
you eat breakfast this morning?" the teacher asked gently. "It wasn't my
turn," the boy replied solemnly.
It's the sort of story that is common these days -- North American men,
women and children with not enough to eat. It's the sort of story soup kitchens
can give a happy ending. Soup kitchens provide one of the basics of life,
nourishing meals for the homeless and other disadvantaged members of the community.
"We provide seven dinners a week, five lunches a week and three seasonal
meals celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter," says Al Mayall, a pastor
at the Mission Soup Kitchen.
Volunteers are a crucial part of the effort.
"They give these people value and importance," says Judy Lienemann, volunteer
coordinator at the Union Gospel Mission in Salem, Oregon. "A lot of these
people might go all day and no one smiles at them. This is the precious gift
that volunteers give them."
Soup kitchen volunteers have a number of duties including picking up donations
of food, preparing meals, serving it, and cleaning up afterward.
Soup kitchen volunteers have a number of duties including picking up donations
of food, preparing meals, serving it, and cleaning up afterward. Soup kitchen
volunteers work in kitchens run through mobile food programs, shelters, and
religious centres and churches
Volunteering at a soup kitchen may help you find a job. For example, it
provides hands-on work experience in the field of food production and service
Dale Griffiths wanted to get out of the office at lunch. "I found myself
doing work over the lunch hour," he explains.
Three blocks from his law office in Salem, Oregon, Griffiths saw the Union
Gospel Mission. "I remember I walked in and asked if I could volunteer in
the kitchen." Years later, Griffiths is still a regular volunteer.
"I know they have trouble keeping people," he says. "Sometimes, I've come
in three to five days a week until they got more volunteers, then they said
I could cut it back to just once a week. Now, I bring two other attorneys
on that day and we make it Legal Day."
Griffiths says there are a number of reasons he keeps coming back. One
is his sense of social responsibility. "I think everyone should contribute
something back to the community," he says simply.
Another reason is the feeling that he really is making a difference. "A
lot of times I see the regulars downtown and I say 'Hi' and they smile and
say 'Hi' back. There's one gentleman who always calls me Governor. 'Guvn'r'
-- you know that sort of English way of talking? Well, one day he came up
and said he'd been looking for me. He had something to give me. He'd carved
out some wood and made me a pen. That really touched me!"
Griffiths' job is to put spoonfuls of food on people's plates as they go
past. "I try to make it more than, 'Here's your food, go on.' I try to make
it cheerful. By the end of the month, you can tell it's rough. There's a lot
of people coming in, including families and children."
Griffiths says when kids come through, he gives them double helpings. When
lunch is served, he'll usually go back to the freezer where the occasional
treat is stored away. "I'll bring them out to the kids, just so there might
be something they like. You see, a lot of them don't like the food a lot,
it's not the food they're accustomed to."
Lienemann says volunteers give the people who come to the soup kitchen
value and importance. "They know the volunteers have made a special trip
to see and serve them," she explains. "A lot of these people might go all
day and no one smiles at them. This is the precious gift that volunteers give
them."
Lienemann says one man came in a year after the death of his son. The son
had stayed at the mission at one time and had benefited a lot from being there.
"He wanted to pay something back," explains Lienemann. "And he felt being
here would help him feel closer to his son." The father's now been coming
three times a week for over a year.
How to Get Involved
Most cities have some sort of soup kitchen. All you need to get involved
is the time and commitment. How much time is up to you. Some volunteers come
once a year, some come once a month, others once a week or more. Lienemann
says she interviews would-be volunteers to identify their needs. She'll then
try to place them in an area where those needs will be met.
Some soup kitchens do have age restrictions. "A lot of kitchens have insurance
issues, so volunteers have to be over 14," says Katherine Amber with the Community
Family Soup Kitchen in Eugene, Oregon.
Links
A Loving Spoonful
A volunteer agency that provides free meals to people living
with HIV
How to Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen
Read more about volunteering at a soup kitchen
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