Fourth-Visit-All-Souls-3-15-10

Today I visited the ALL SOULS soup kitchen. It is located between 78th and 79th street and Lexington Avenue. The atmosphere is different than other soup kitchens and food pantries I have visited. They serve just fewer than 300 on a normal day. They don’t have as many people as Father’s Heart Ministry because they don’t have the rotation process. This makes it less crowded and more comfortable for the people who go there. I helped in the kitchen this time around. I had several jobs over a two-hour period. My first job was to carry boxes out with ingredients for dinner. I then sorted each ingredient in the right slot for easy access. Finally I broke down each box to be recycled. I made a big salad with about 29 bowls. With a little help I peeled carrots, cucumbers, and peppers, while someone else prepared the lettuce. I then cut each vegetable in a different way. The carrots had to be cut thick to go into the food processor. The cucumbers had to be cut thin, and the peppers had to be cut long and then sliced in half. After thirty minutes I finished the salad and carried each bowl to its rightful place. My next job required a lot of patience. I had to take plastic containers and find tops that would fit on top. This was for people to take food home. A lot of people take it home because they don’t want to bring their families there. So I sorted each top with its container and then recycled the rest. During my last job I had to put a piece of bread into a plastic bag and tie it up. After about fifty bags I would but it in a box and move it to storage. I repeated this with five more boxes. The two hours went by quickly, and I helped prepare several meals. Just as people started to eat I had to leave. They have volunteer shifts. For example some of the volunteers will work for the first two hours and prepare everything. Then the other volunteers will serve when people start to arrive. The setup goes from 4 to 6:30 and dinner goes from 6:30 to 8:00. This place is also a church so on the weekend they have services, lectures, and meetings. I liked how everything at this soup kitchen was organized and not rushed. I am excited to come back here for my fifth visit.