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The Capuchin Soup Kitchen began nearly 75 years ago.
It didn't start out as a kitchen; it started out with cups of coffee and large sandwiches for hungry people who came to the Capuchin Monastery office on Mt Elliott. Hungry people would come to the office because they knew the Friars would feed them. The doorkeeper was a Friar by the name of Fr. Solanus Casey. Every Fr. Solanus watched the poor coming into the office asking for help, and every day the Friars made mounds of sandwiches and gallons of coffee to care for them.
Fr. Herman Buss worked with a group of men and women called the Secular Franciscans, and he asked them if they would be able to let the Friars use their hall and small kitchen to feed the growing numbers of poor and hungry. They said "Yes!" And so, on November 29th the feeding of the hungry moved from the Monastery Office to the hall next to the Monastery church. The year was 1929. The Friars served large bowls of hearty soup, bread and coffee, in a short time the hall became known as the Capuchin Soup Kitchen.
Almost from the very beginning local people wanted to help in the feeding of the thousands of people who would come for something to eat. Because of the generosity and goodness of so many, we have never run out of food. In all the years of caring for people...we have and never asked why a person was looking for a meal.
The simple act of feeding people has grown over the years to trying to nurture those who walk through our door. The single little hall has now become four different sites of caring. We have two large kitchens, which serve nearly 60,000 meals each month. A large warehouse is the distribution point for more then 3.5 Million pounds of food to needy families each year. We also distribute more than 33,000 articles of clothing each month along with furniture and appliances for families that have lost everything through fire and other disasters.
Soup kitchen staff work with families that struggle, helping them get their lives put back together. Since the 1960's we have had a residential program for men struggling with substance and alcohol abuse. The live-in program last from eight to 12 months. Trained therapists provide help and insight into lives and habits. The four-year recovery rate is nearly 65%. Men broken by years of destructive behavior are given a chance to lead productive lives.
Of the nearly 60,000 meals served every month from out kitchens, about 30 percent are for children. Most are children of the working poor. Because of the great numbers that come through our doors, we have tried to respond to their needs. A 7,000-book library for children is in place at one of our kitchen sites. An art program coordinated by a Board certified art therapist, also is offered. A reading program for children that involves elders and members of the local community reading to the children. At Christmas time a program is in place so that children of the poor can receive toys. We have consistently given out more then 18,000 toys to needy children each year.
A neighborhood garden involves neighborhood people, volunteers and other benefactors. The purpose of the garden is to heal the earth, heal the neighborhood and gather people from every walk of life to work together, helping heal them as well. Measuring 21,000 feet, the garden produced more than 8,000 pounds of produce in 2004. This produce is shared with the poor as well as used in the preparation of meals at the Soup Kitchen.
A new project called "My Name is..." will give our guest a chance to record their "story" on tape. A portrait of each of them will be displayed in the kitchens along with their story so that they will be honored ,and young people will grow in appreciation of their history.
All these services are offered at no cost. The Capuchin-Franciscans traditionally have begged for the funds to maintain the service for the poor. We receive no government money. In all of the years of service we have always had volunteers and benefactors standing next to us supporting our work and serving with us as well. The local community and corporations have been supportive with funds and volunteers as well.
Various contributions throughout the year are well received and make the work possible. The numbers of meals served in our kitchens have tripled in the last eight years. And present economic times are making it more difficult to care for those seeking assistance.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of our services, funding is the nutrient for the life-blood. We have a motto: "to walk with and nurture the human spirit." We try to treat each person who walks through our doors with respect and warmth...we want to do more then feed people, we want to offer them something better then that, we want to offer them hope.
God Bless, Br. Vince
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