My Experience at the BGN

Bristol Good Neighbors Soup Kitchen

I thought that the BGN was really amazing at serving food and helping us get our bags. When we got there it was like going into a lunch room and sitting down while someone else serves you. There was a person to serve the lunch, which was very very yummy, and then someone else had a tray full of drinks and someone else served the dessert. So for lunch it was chicken salad sandwich, pasta salad mixture, and a side salad, I think it was supposed to be coleslaw like. But it was wicked tasty. The tone was really pleasant, there was small talk and people had friends there, and it was like a little community that didn't mind others coming in and eating with them. Overall I think it was a great experience.

For myself, and my own reaction to eating there I felt small, like it didn't matter who I was, I was just in need of food for that day, and it did feel strange. But once people started eating and talking, I didn't feel so bad. I think it was just because we were new and had our own perceptions of what was going to happen. I think also that a lot of people have helped out at a soup kitchen before but they may never get the chance to sit on the other side and interact with the people they were helping, and by doing this challenge I think that people can get another perspective of life.

Ok so the food portion ended and we were given our bags for the month: included in my bag was 2 cans of soup, a big box of mashed potatoes, a big can of baked beans, hot dogs (frozen), canned cut yams, canned asparagus spears, one can of tuna fish, some pasta, rice, canned green beans, and canned beans, and a can of unsweetened appled sauce. What is nice about the food pantry is that they give you a bag (like a stop and shop bag) that is sturdy enough to hold everything in it and won't rip to shreds. I also like that if you have food allergies or are a vegetarian that you can go through your bag before you leave and take out what you will not eat. So for me, I can't eat anything with gluten in it. So I had to give back the hot dog buns and the pasta, even though I love pasta, and some soup that I didn't like. Other than that the bag had a lot of nutritious foods in it. Overall I would say that the BGN helped me a lot throughout this process and it was definitely had a positive effect on me.