It’s known by many names: The Soup Kitchen, Victoria Soup Kitchen, or the 9–10 Club Serving Soup to the Hungry, and this volunteer-run, free-food resource provided daily meals to 30,000 guests in 2021.
After seeing two men search for food in a dumpster 40 years ago, Murray and Edna Black were determined to do something about it. They founded a non-profit, non-denominational charity on November 12, 1982. Clearly, it is still serving a need in the community. Could they have imagined, at that time, that their mission to “Feed Those in Need” would still exist in 2022, or that hunger of this magnitude would not abate over time?
The reality is that it takes a lot of people, good-will and funding to make a soup kitchen run smoothly. If your boss asked if you would like to do volunteer work there, what would you say? I suspect many people would hesitate, or at the very least ask a lot of questions before they made a commitment.
Sheila Connelly is one person who said yes and started volunteering in September 2008. Her then-80-year-old boss was a founding member of the 9–10 Club. Sheila had often passed people on the sidewalk in front of Our Place Society, another community resource whose website describes the organization as serving “Greater Victoria’s most vulnerable,” and strives to “tackle homelessness, mental health challenges, substance use issues, and more.” Sheila says that volunteering at The Soup Kitchen became a way to “do something useful and take part in the greater community.”
Still actively involved 14 years later, Sheila describes her time there as a truly “enriching experience… making meaningful connections… and gaining valuable insights about perceptions that can cause prejudice and fear.” For example, before COVID restrictions, she was grateful for diners who expressed condolences following the loss of her father or were excited for her when she went on holidays.
Located in the basement of St. Andrew’s Cathedral at 740 View Street in Victoria, The Soup Kitchen is open Monday to Friday, including all holidays. It receives sponsorship from individual donors, volunteers and donations from St. Andrews Cathedral, COBS Bread, the Dutch Bakery and Thrifty Foods.
“We do receive from Save-on-Foods once a week,” says Sheila. “And the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem has been a great help to us over the last two years, as have the Victoria Foundation and others.”
Additionally, Rotary Victoria Harbourside provided a grant to purchase personal care items, socks and underwear for guests. Diners may be housed or unhoused, living with addictions or not. They come from all age groups, though mainly over the age of 20, including pensioners and employed, low-income people.
Sheila has observed the physical transformation that comes when a previously unhoused diner is finally able to stabilize their life with appropriate housing.
The pre-COVID, restaurant-style meal service brought “…people into a warm, safe environment to be served a nourishing hot breakfast to give them the best possible start to their day.”
“It’s also a space for our diners to meet one another in a congenial, relaxed way for a couple of hours.” There is a wide range of discussion amongst the diners.
During the pandemic, there were several changes to the program to accommodate public health policies. What did NOT change, however, was the culture of inclusiveness, respect and celebration of diversity towards guests, volunteers and business or community partners.
Volunteers typically work once a week between 7:00 and 10:30 am from Monday to Friday. Their tasks include picking up food donations, preparing vegetables for soup, making soup or sandwiches, serving meals and washing dishes. There are different Soup Kitchen cooks every day.
They arrive between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. to prep in the morning, and they focus on including protein in the soups with ham and split pea, chicken or hamburger along with vegetables. The bag-to-go has two good meals, including such items as roast beef, turkey or ham sandwiches, a hardboiled egg, yogurt, peanut butter, tea or coffee and something sweet.
“When COVID forced us to shut down our inside operation, our diners were surprised and unbelievably grateful that we remained open even as a takeout service,” says Sheila. “I cannot overstate the fear I saw in their faces and in their comments in those early days. It has left an indelible impression on me about just how precarious their situation is in our society. Unfortunately, COVID has meant that we are still serving a takeout bagged meal… enough for at least two meals each day. We do look forward to the day we will reopen [the sit-down service].”
To learn more, and see this program in action, check out their website, links to articles and a video at http://www.thesoupkitchen.ca/
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