November 18, 2024 newsletter

 

Good morning! We are so thankful for each and every one of you, and we don't want to forget to say that at this busy time of the year. So THANK YOU!

Today I want to share some thoughts that I've been mulling over about where we were and where we are now, and about how quite a few things have changed at Stone Soup Kitchen over the last 6 years. Many of you know that the dinner was going on for many years before that, thanks to Pastor Steve Wells at Apple Valley Baptist Church. A long long time ago, he began sharing a pizza lunch with some friends who needed a meal, and that evolved into God's Kitchen at AVBC where hot potluck meals were made available 3 to 4 evenings each week and also on Sundays after church.

Legal things happened, that we won't dwell on here, and the entire program was forced to regroup. For a few weeks, I served dinner out of the back of my Jeep, and AVBC decided to pass out gift cards for a while until they could decide what to do. Living Water Fellowship invited me to run a potluck dinner there on Friday evenings, and Pastor Bob Brachel of LWF decided that a food pantry should be added. We decided that I should also start the process to register Stone Soup Kitchen as an independent 501(c)3. All this happened just in time for the covid shutdown. Because of the legal troubles, many more people in town now knew where they could go for help, from AVBC and SSK. Timing is everything, and I credit God's timing: when others mean it for harm, God turns it around and uses it for good.

That leads us to the first wave of guests that we served through our food pantry. Desperate people, many of whom had lost their jobs overnight. Older people, at high risk, who were afraid and who were on a fixed income. Because of covid, we were delayed in building the robust community with them that we desired, but we could at least spend time listening to their fears and talking with them each week. Overall, our demographics for the first 2 years of covid were working people who could not work: younger to middle aged people, or older people who were over the age of retirement but not yet retired.

I am pleased to report that almost all of the people we used to see each week or two in 2020 and 2021 have moved on from needing our help now! We have heard from some of them that they are back to work and doing well. A few have come back as donors and volunteers. I am reminded, though, about my own experience of receiving help: For the most part, I didn't “pay it back”. Instead, I ended up “paying it forward”. We wonder sometimes about people that we no longer see. We hope they are doing well, and we also hope that at some point, they will decide to help support an organization that they believe in.

So who are we seeing now at the pantry? Primarily older retirees and young families. Older people who thought they had saved enough but hadn't counted on inflation and scarcity. And younger people who are employed (often at multiple jobs) but who can't keep up. Almost all are different individuals than we saw in 2020. We've been free for the last few years, too, to work on building community for our guests, offering lots of different ways to interact and make friends across the community. This is what you are now supporting: a food program with a heavy emphasis on relationships.

Will you think about getting more involved? We have opportunities for people who like to be behind the scenes (for example, providing encouragement cards, cookies, holiday gift packs, food donations, etc), and for those who love a more forward-facing task (such as helping with the Coffee Bar, participating in dinner, running a workshop). And of course we can always use your donations, monetary or food. If you can shop for us this week, we are low on small jars of jelly, bigger soups (like Progresso size), canned chicken, baked beans, 18 oz containers of oatmeal, and toilet paper. We'll be at the pantry on Wednesday from 10 to noon, Friday from 4 to 5:30, and Saturday from 9 to noon for drop-offs. And the bin is always available at Shop n' Save if those times don't suit. Please leave a note in the bag with your name so we know whom to thank!

Have a glorious week...I love you all!