The soup’s on at the New Wine Deliverance and Healing Fellowship.
Every Wednesday, the public is invited to a new soup kitchen, run out of the South Cariboo Business Centre at 475 South Birch Ave. from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
It’s something Dave Skoda and his wife Vicky have wanted to do for years, and say with the COVID-19 pandemic still going on, it seemed like the best time to provide people with a little support, soup and fellowship.
“I think any town would benefit from having a soup kitchen. There’s always a certain amount of a population that could use the help and use the fellowship. It’s not only for those who are financially strapped but also you hear loneliness is a bigger problem in society than poverty is,” Skoda said. “If there’s a place they can go and have a conversation over a bowl of soup, what better way to do it.”
The soup kitchen started on Nov. 4 but had a bit of a slow start due to B.C.’s new health orders and a lack of community awareness. However, Skoda said they intend to continue to offer a meal and conversation throughout 2021. He and Vicky work in the kitchen, while they will have a greeter and a half dozen servers at each event, at least until more volunteers complete their food safe courses.
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The kitchen will serve two soups every Wednesday. Last week it was minestrone and butternut squash, but other soups on the menu include potato and leek, cream of broccoli and chicken noodle, to name a few.
Skoda said they aren’t aiming to “steal customers” from restaurants and encourages those who can afford to eat out to do so.
“We’d like to see it grow into something bigger than a soup kitchen, but who knows,” he said.
The soup kitchen has the support of Loaves and Fishes, the 100 Mile Food Bank and the South Cariboo Family Enrichment Centre. Loaves and Fishes will sometimes donate bread for them to serve with the soup, Skoda said, while they’ll give them any leftover soup in takeout containers.
“It’s just a matter of wanting to be a help to a community, not wanting to be a hindrance but a help,” Vicky added. “There are so many people out there that need help in one way or the other. If people need clothes or whatever, we know people who knit toques, gloves and scarves, we can do that. We can help out in so many ways. We just want to help.”
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