Helping Hands & Happy Hearts
The basic needs of every human include food, water, shelter, and clothing. Without these things we cannot survive. Thankfully, for those without the resources necessary to procure these items, there are organizations who strive to ensure these necessities are distributed. Groups like soup kitchens and shelters ensure that the homeless or needing individuals within our communities are cared for, but even organizations like these need things. They need donations as well as volunteers who can distribute the items donated.
From 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM the Sioux City, IA soup kitchen hands out hot meals to the various needy in the Siouxland area. Thanks to donations from various community members, local businesses and organizations the kitchen is able to maintain a steady stream of good food that it’s staff prepare each day for those in-need, but it often finds itself in need of people to help run the operations of serving the food to those who attend. Kerri Toben, of the Sioux City Mid-States Utility branch saw this need and decided it was time something was done.
Kerri went to work creating sign-up sheets for the night of Tuesday, December 3rd to help the kitchen with staffing. She managed the names that came in and worked with the soup kitchen to set up times. It wasn’t long before she had so many names that the kitchen was overwhelmed. They decided to push past a single night and managed to organize enough volunteers for three Tuesdays: December 3rd, 10th, and 17th.
The first group, including Ashlei, Ben, Darlene, Justin, Kerri, and co-owner of Mid-States Utility and Keizer Stacy all assisted at the December 3rd night. Four of them handing out the food, while the other two made sure dishes were getting cleaned and prepared for the next day.
“It’s pretty organized.”
Ben Clark – Salesman
The kitchen was managed by Tony, a veteran who served two tours in Iraq. He maintained his military-minded organizational skills at the kitchen with an incredibly capable, but simple schedule. First are the women and children from the nearby women’s shelter who come and partake in the meal. They are followed by the rest of the community. Depending on the donations for the day the kitchen offers seconds at a specific time and cuts off food distribution at exactly 6:00 PM. Although somewhat strict, it is a necessity to ensure that everyone there manages to get a fresh meal that night.
“…it was a very gratifying experience.”
Darlenne Bracht – Accounts Receivable/Service Writer
In-between handing out the the various vegetables and hot dishes to the attendees, the staff was able to talk with many of the individuals, hearing their stories and making conversation. Learning about the people that attend the nightly meals.
Overall, it was a great experience and I would definitely like to try to get down there again to volunteer.
Ashlei Hanks –
“I’m so glad we did it, it was awesome. The biggest thing was just how thankful they were.”
Kerri Toben – Organizer of Soup Kitchen Volunteering
It leaves a warmth in one’s soul to give back to the community and the people around you. We highly recommend finding a local soup kitchen or other volunteer opportunity where you live and find out how you can participate or work with them to better the area where you live. You’d be amazed how much a couple of hours of service can truly mean to those in-need in your area.