Kitchen relies on community businesses and individual donations, volunteers
On a sunny, mild Wednesday, 10 vehicles lined up at the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen before noon. A few people walked up or waited patiently near their bicycles.
Volunteers prepare for a day of distributing food by move packaged meals from the kitchen to an outdoor shed.
Rich Fleming, Denny Martin and other community volunteers at the Soup Kitchen were ready. White bags of cold and hot food lined a shelf inside a bright red shed at the edge of the parking lot. Greetings and playful banter was part of the food delivery between the regulars who count on the Soup Kitchen and the volunteers.
The scene is quite a change from where staff and volunteers expected to be before COVID hit. The longtime site of the Soup Kitchen on Harris Street in Mount Pleasant underwent a renovation in 2019, resulting in a larger dining area and updated bathroom facilities.
Now the dining room is used as a staging area for the drive-through service. And where the Soup Kitchen regularly served about 100 meals each day before the pandemic, it now takes 225 to 275 meals to meet community needs.
“We had to pivot from congregated dining to a safe, no-contact, drive-through service,” said Sarah Adkins, the executive director for the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen. “When we saw that the situation was going to continue into the winter, we bought the shed to help with the drive-through service.”
Adkins said she hopes to resume indoor dining later this year. Plans to renovate and update equipment in the kitchen in September are on track. Krapohl Ford & Lincoln recently contributed to the kitchen campaign, and the Soup Kitchen is the dealership’s community partner for the month of August.
Adkins said the Soup Kitchen, from the staff and regular volunteers to how well it runs is because of strong, ongoing community support.
Sarah Adkins, the executive director of the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen, grew up in Mount Pleasant and said she jumped at the opportunity to return to Isabella County in a role where she could help people.
“What the community donates is important,” Adkins said. “Without their support, we don’t feed people. I often say the Soup Kitchen is divinely blessed. It seems every time we run out of something, that is the day the item is donated. The support for the last 30 years has been amazing. I have people calling at key times asking, ‘How can I help?’ Or it’s, ‘Hey, I just shot a deer, can I donate it?’ (Yes, as long as the deer was butchered at a licensed facility.)”
“We are on the receiving end of so much love and support.”
The Soup Kitchen receives food from Sam’s Club, Meijer, Target, Ric’s, Robaire’s Bakery and Doughnut Shop, Panera Bread, Max & Emily’s, Central Michigan University catering and others, Adkins said.
In July, 24,000 pounds of food were donated to the Soup Kitchen. Much of it was prepared and delivered at the Soup Kitchen. What wasn’t needed, the Soup Kitchen shared with other outlets. “We share excess with five or six other food pantries,” Adkins said. “On some levels, we’re also a distribution center.”
Adkins said the people the Soup Kitchen serves covers a cross section of the community: senior citizens, homeless, young couples with children, etc.
All are welcome, she said.
“The only question we ask is, ‘How many meals do you need?’ ”
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