By His hand we all are fed
Site of the proposed Darlington Soup Kitchen located on 586 West Broad Street in Darlington.
Photo by Samantha Lyles
For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;”
~Matthew 25:35
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
How can an ecumenical soup kitchen operate successfully?
With a lot of help.
As mentioned in the Darlington City Council story on the front page of today’s paper, the First Church of God on North Main Street in Darlington has endeavored to open a Soup Kitchen in Darlington, to serve food to those in need in the heart of the city.
As described by Pastor Kendall Williams, the city needs one.
Williams was involved with the Street Reach homeless program when he was pastoring a church in Myrtle Beach, and became aware of the acute needs of homeless populations, which typically include people that have addictions to drugs and alcohol.
“When I came back here to our church and we began to see a lot of that here in our community,” said Williams as he spoke to the Darlington City Council on March 1. “I don’t know if you realize that but we do have a problem here in Darlington. We can’t see it, but it is there. And I realize we are a small town and I am not here to promote a homeless ministry because I know it takes a lot more than we are prepared to do at this time- but what I am here to propose to the city is a Soup Kitchen. The vision that God has given me is we need a place to be able to feed some of the people here in Darlington on a limited basis to start with.”
Williams continued: “I have asked several churches to become committed to being involved in doing that. Presently I have at least ten churches here in our city who have committed to being involved in this Soup Kitchen until we can figure out how we want to do it. Our vision is after visiting Florence and seeing how they do it and of course Hartsville has the same thing, our vision is to set up a food serving line on a Saturday morning to begin with, we want to try to do it every Saturday morning from 7 to approximately 10 o’clock. There will be no cooking in the place we are talking about trying to do this. All of the food will be prepared at home and brought because we realize DHEC does have the rules they must go by if the cooking is done on site. We are going to be preparing the food at home, for instance casseroles, and sandwiches and that sort of thing, bringing and serving to the people in the community that we are going to set up in who need it.”
Williams also shared that the churches will also bring items collected that are needed by the homeless population, such as toiletries, clothes, socks and shoes,and offer these things to the community at a first come, first serve basis.
“We realize that some people may take advantage of us, but the main thing is doing what we feel God has called us to do. And that is the vision that we have.”
Later plans will include more days per week, and an organization to the volunteers and churches interested in the mission.
The churches that have signed up to help so far are:
Flat Creek
Mechanicsville Baptist
Freedom Baptist
First Baptist
Round “O” Baptist
House of Refuge
Free Will Baptist Bible Church
Dovesville Church of God
Temple Freewill Baptist
New Providence Baptist
First Church of God
An informational meeting will be held on Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. at First Church of God, 620 North Main Street, Darlington. Williams will return to the council at their April meeting after meeting with this group.
“I know feeding once a week is not enough,” said Williams. “But we’ve got to crawl before we can walk.”
Wesley United Methodist Church Soup Kitchen Mission on College Avenue in Hartsville, SC
One does not need to travel far in Darlington County to find an example of one that has been successful, as nearby Hartsville has seen the evolution of the Hartsville Soup Kitchen Mission grow since it began in1998 at Wesley United Methodist Church.
As a member of this church, I can recall meetings where it was first discussed by founders Pat and Jerry Saduaskas who moved to the area from New Jersey, and helped with a similar mission there.
The location is in the former Youth Building across the street from the sanctuary on College Avenue, a stones throw from the Coker College campus and easily accessible for people in need on foot and by bicycle from most locations in the city.
In the early days, church members took turn creating and serving the meals. Helpers and volunteers from other churches followed as the mission grew to more days per week, rotating as chef teams.
Stories of the soup kitchen are often touching. Letters and donations are often received from people who had been given a meal, with thanks for the dignity of a meal given freely with no judgment.
Today, the mission has a large network of churches local businesses and clubs that volunteer cooking and serving duties. Coker College students and members of athletic teams have been especially helpful to the Soup Kitchen.
At the beginning of each meal, servers and recipients of the meal join in prayer to give thanks for the blessing of the meal. Members of clergy or church members are often on hand for prayer concerns, and religious literature is available.
A special catered Thanksgiving meal is donated each year by members of the SPC Credit Union.
Wesley UMC Outreach Mission oversees the operation, with Mrs. Frankie Bush as chair. The executive director of the Soup Kitchen is Mr. Gregory D. Rogers, Sr. The Hartsville Soup Kitchen is open weekdays from 11 a.m to 12 p.m.
To learn more about either project, and to donate funds to help:
Darlington Soup Kitchen:
First Church of God is located at 620 North Main Street, Darlington, SC 29532
Church website is: www.fcgdarlington.net and the phone number is: 843-393-7942
Donations may be sent to the address listed above, with “Soup Kitchen” in the subject line at this time.
Hartsville Soup Kitchen Mission:
Donations may be sent via checks payable to Hartsville Soup Kitchen Mission (in care of) Wesley United Methodist Church, 145 E. College Avenue, Hartsville, SC, 29550.
The church website is: wesleyhartsville.org, and the phone number is: 843-332-1196.