Soup Kitchen

Growing up in Metro-Detroit I have been to a lot of different soup kitchens in my life. Most have been a lot larger in size than the one we went to for class, but both were equally as humbling. Many of the soup kitchens in Detroit required the people waiting in line to show some sort of proof that they actually needed the free food, unlike the one in Meadville. I noticed that a lot of soup kitchens in Detroit were also shelters at night time for people without a home, which was not the case here. I thought it was really cool how many volunteers were at this soup kitchen, even though it was relatively small in size--a lot of people showed up. I noticed a lot of older men and younger moms with one or more children, but also there were a few kids around my age. 

I found it really impressive that one woman was in charge of buying the produce and creating the menus for the week. I also liked how resourceful she was in that she kept the leftovers and used those for other dishes on different days. I thought it was really smart that she would use the same types of food for the meals each week and just use different combinations on alternate days. 

I really enjoyed working at the soup kitchen and learning all about the effort put in behind the scenes, including the cooking, cleaning, prepping, etc. I also loved learning that Giant Eagle donated a lot of food and how on Wednesday's a local woman bakes all the cookies handed out. It was really refreshing to see how grateful everyone that passed through was and even though they have a lot going on and need a little extra help they came in with a smile on their face and thanked all the soup kitchen volunteers. I am really happy to have helped and am excited to go back again.