Soup Kitchen always busy during the holidays
By John Joyce
Published in News on November 26, 2015 12:06 AM
The Community Soup Kitchen of Goldsboro is expecting to feed more than 200 people today, as those without homes, without money for food or whose families are too far away travel to, turn out for a hot Thanksgiving Day meal.
While most families across Wayne County sit down together to give thanks and to watch football, others have nowhere to go.
"A lot of my friends don't have that option," Soup Kitchen Director Doricia Benton said. And that is not just on holidays. For Benton's friends, as she calls those whom she serves hot meals each day, the need is year-round.
"We served 285 people (Monday)," she said.
By the end of the year, the Soup Kitchen expects to have served more than 47,000 meals, a number Benton says is increasing with each passing year.
In 2014, the Soup Kitchen served 44,682 meals. Benton rattles off the number as though she remembers each individual meal. When it comes to the persons served, however, she does know each one. That is why she calls them all her friends.
"I love each and every one of them in their own way," Benton said.
Her friends come from all over -- some in need of a meal, others in need of clothing or personal hygiene items -- some of whom stop by for no more than a bit of conversation.
"For a lot of my friends, it is hard on them out in the streets. They are in need of real conversation to get away from all of the drama that goes on out there," she said.
Volunteers come from all over, too. On Wednesday, volunteers included members of the Boys & Girls Club of Wayne County, airmen from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and people from the community.
Steven Ellis, a community resident, busied himself Wednesday slicing tomatoes. He said he helps out at the Soup Kitchen because it is the right thing to do.
"Everybody needs to be helped out sometimes," Ellis said.
The menu today will consist of turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, yams, green beans, and a lot of love and understanding, Benton said.
"Every holiday, unless it falls on a Sunday, we are here," she said. On Sundays, church groups take over the soup kitchen and provide the meals. One of those churches is the Unity Fellowship Church in Goldsboro, which has collected coats to hand out today. They are set up across the street from the kitchen.