Darlington Soup Kitchen begins May 14
Location of the Darlington Soup Kitchen, 586 Broad Street, Darlington.
Photo by Jana E. Pye
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
The dream to share God’s love in action comes to fruition this Saturday, May 14, as the Darlington Soup Kitchen serves the very first meal at 8:00 a.m.
The principal organizer of the mission, Lindsey Byrd of First Church of God, shared that a hearty breakfast will be shared each Saturday morning.
“We are so excited about helping people that need this,” said Byrd. “Not only can we share a meal, we will be providing much needed items to share with people in need.”
Organizers had first planned to share a meal twice a month, but with so much support from the community the meal will be weekly, each Saturday. The location is the former Builders Supply Building at 586 West Broad Street, the current location for the City of Darlington street department. The building is currently experiencing a mold issue due to leaking from the heavy rains in October, and the city has recently received bids to address the issue. In the meantime, the meals will be served outdoors in the parking lot.
The First Church of God will provide the first breakfast. Each meal will be pre-prepared and kept warm, and serving will begin at 8:00 a.m.
Byrd asked that anyone from the community that would like to share items with the local homeless population are encouraged to bring the items to the location to be shared prior to serving the meal.
Suggested items include:
Toiletries, clothing, toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste, towels and washcloths, socks, sleeping bags, and rain jackets.
Churches that have signed up to serve have a tentative schedule prepared:
• May 14: First Church of God
• May 21: First Baptist Church of Darlington
• May 28: House of Refuge, House of Refuge Outreach
• June 4: Trinity UMC
• June 11: Free Will Baptist Bible Church
• June 18: Flat Creek Pentecostal
• June 25: Central Baptist
• July 2: Freedom Baptist
• July 9: Round O Baptist
• July 16: New Providence
(Other churches have expressed a desire to help, but are not on the schedule at this time.) Churches, organizations or businesses wishing to be added to the ministry may call the First Church of God for more information:
843-393-7942.
Donations for the mission may be sent to:
First Church of God, 620 N Main St, Darlington, SC 29532 with Soup Kitchen in the subject line.
