Organizers of the South New Berlin soup and sandwich dinner say lately they’ve been sending far too many leftovers home with volunteers when the night’s over.
“We’re not always sure we’re reaching the people who need our help the most,” said volunteer David Lawson. “There’s plenty of them out there who could use a free meal that just aren’t coming.”
When Dave says “out there,” he doesn’t mean in South New Berlin – he means anywhere.
The dinner, held inside the community room at the First Baptist Church on Route 8 the last Monday of every month, is open to anyone and everyone.
That’s why he and the four other regular volunteers can’t figure out why more people don’t come.
“But we’re not discouraged,” Dave said. “Even if we only feed one person, we’re doing our job.”
They were feeding around 50 people a clip when they retired the dinner for the summer last June.
Up and running again in September, the crew of sandwich makers, soup ladlers and place setters say the number now reaches around 20-25 per month.
That’s about how many we served the night it was my turn to cook – if you count making tuna fish and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as cooking. But the volunteers weren’t shy in giving orders, and I wasn’t too shy to take them. So before we were through passing out the last bowl of soup, not only was I slapping sandwiches together, I was also waiting tables, washing dishes and chatting up the locals. And, as it turns out, conversation, more than hunger, is the big dinner draw that last Monday each month.
“We have quite a few seniors that come in,” said volunteer Elaine Clum. “They enjoy the companionship and the camaraderie.”
Lawson says its also a break for local seniors, some of whom don’t have the easiest time cooking meals of their own.
“It gives them a night where they don’t have to worry about cooking,” he said. “And they do enjoy the fellowship.”
The dinner’s organizers aren’t affiliated with a larger group and they don’t have a name or a special committee.
“We’re just a group of local volunteers who get together each month,” explained fellow soup and sandwich volunteer Karen Chawgo.
The group operates the dinner off of donations – which includes the volunteer’s time and the space the First Baptist Church graciously provides – and runs it from September to June. They receive some food supplies from the community throughout the year, but the operation mostly relies on the money people choose to put in the collection plate that sits out during dinner.
“Donations are by no means required,” Lawson explained. “But they are accepted.”
Lawson hopes that’s not a deterrent for those who are in dire straits.
“Everybody is welcome,” he said. “Don’t limit yourself to what you have and don’t have.”
I apparently have a knack for scrubbing pots.
“He even does dishes,” a few of my kitchen cohorts said, surprised. “When you get a wife, we’ll have to let her know.”