On Wednesday, Sophie and I visited St. Johns Bread and Life Soup Kitchen in Brooklyn. St. Johns is one of the biggest soup kitchens and food pantries in Brooklyn. When we walked in their lobby seemed packed, but unfortunately it was not a very busy day to they did not have any work for us. According to Ms. Winters who shows us around on some days the line to get the hot meals it out the door and down the block. Even though we were not able to work we were able to get a tour of their facilities. St. Johns was one of the more impressive food pantries/soup kitchens we have been in. They are located in a beautiful new building that really seemed to function not only as a food pantry and soup kitchen but also as a community center. St. Johns works both as a food pantry and soup kitchen. Their food pantry functions on a system were people get to pick their own food. When you enter the building there are about 6 touch screens. Each person gets to use these to pick out the food that they want. In many ways it was a lot like online grocery shopping. The system then sent the orders to a large room in the back of the facility. There they printed out as recites and volunteers picked out the items and brought them to back to the main lobby where people received their food.

St. Johns also runs a hot meal program daily. Every weekday they serve hot breakfast and lunch. The menu is always posted so people can decided if they want to come to a meal based on what is being served. I was really impressed with how much choice St. John’s allows their clients and how inviting their location was. I am really looking forward to going back and actually being able to participate in their program.