Our Soup Kitchen runs on a team system. If you've got a group of like-minded people who want to help out, we're happy to have you. Here's how it works:
Our Soup Kitchen serves dinners on Wednesdays and lunches on Saturdays. Each team signs up for either Wednesday or Saturday, and the teams will then rotate serving the meal on their designated day. The frequency with which teams will have their turn varies based on the number of teams we have that year - in 2024, our Wednesday teams are serving 5 to 6 meals each while our Saturday teams are serving 3 to 4 meals each. The Soup Kitchen schedule is set in early December for the following year, so teams have plenty of time to plan for their turns.
So what exactly is involved in the teams' turns serving? Each team is responsible for planning, purchasing, preparing, serving, and cleaning up after the meal when it is their turn. Wednesday teams need to prepare a dinner - such as pasta, pork tenderloin, or a stew - while Saturday teams need to prepare sandwiches (we take care of preparing soup to go with them). We generally recommend that a team have from 6-10 members, but meals can be served successfully with as few as 4, and it's never a bad thing to have more team members available in case someone is unavailable.
We ask that teams serve 150 meals. Depending on what is served, the cost usually comes in at around $150-200 per meal. To cover that cost, some teams will do fundraising, collect among church groups, or find a business sponsor. Some teams are groups of coworkers that are sponsored by their employer. [If you've got a group ready to help but the cost is prohibitive, get in touch as we may be able to help.]
If you think you might be interested in starting a soup kitchen team, get in touch with Sara (contact info below). To ensure you can make it onto the 2025 schedule, get in touch by early November 2024.
Sara McCleary
Marketing Manager
705-253-2770 ext. 202
marketing@vincentplacessm.ca