Soup hand out gives homeless a hand up

A hot bowl of soup served to a stranger is still one of the most sacred, hospitable acts of kindness. It's a simple thing, but then again, most things that truly matter are simple.

Our story starts on a cold wintry day on Orcas Island, Wash. In December, a woman drove by our local food bank and saw 40 to 50 people huddled in line waiting for a bag of groceries. She was particularly troubled by a mother shielding her baby from the chill.

She decided to do something. She asked a few friends from the Community Church to join her in making some hot soup. She asked the dentist who owned the adjacent building if they could serve the soup from his lobby.

The next week, as people waited in line, they received warm soup; those with small children stayed in the lobby to keep warm until their number was called. A week later, the volunteers added freshly brewed coffee to the mix.

Within weeks, the food bank moved to a clean, warm space with room for storage and serving at the Community Church. Best of all, it was adjacent to a large fellowship hall with a fully-equipped kitchen. A young couple with a catering business began donating a weekly hot food main dish.

A volunteer offered a ride to a woman who had come for food. On the way home she learned this lunch was the only hot meal this woman had eaten in two weeks. The volunteer paid the caterer to feed the woman every week and to add a salad, too.

Soon, more people in the church and community were dropping by with hot dishes, salads, deserts and fresh vegetables. Six to 10 people were in the kitchen every week now. Nobody was in charge; nobody posted a sign-up sheet; nobody planned a menu. People just showed up with food, while others showed up to eat.

By summer the number of people using the food bank doubled, and at least that many were stopping by for the meal. On a particularly beautiful, warm day, barbeque grills appeared; hamburgers and hot dogs were on the menu. People spread out blankets and basked in the sun at the first-ever food bank picnic.

Jesus urged his followers to serve a cup of cool water to the poor on a hot day. Yet anyone who does this knows it's not just the water that sanctifies the act. Far more significantly, a person whose dignity is on the skids is treated with respect, a person who is down is given a hand up by people who're holding their own.
Jesus told a parable about who will be included in the kingdom of God. In the story, a king is separating his sheeps from the goats. The sheeps wonder why they were chosen. Jesus replies that it is their acts of kindness to strangers that earned their place in the kingdom.

"Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."


Dick Staub is the author of "The Culturally Savvy Christian" and the host of The Kindlings Muse (www.thekindlings.com). His blog can be read at www.dickstaub.com