Visit to the Soup Kitchen

My visit to the soup kitchen was probably the most interesting part of this experience. Going to the grocery store, we had a Visa gift card (since we couldn’t have an actual food stamp card), so we just seemed like regular shoppers using a gift card and did not get any looks or feel uncomfortable. But when visiting the soup kitchen we were immersed in the environment and there was no way of telling us apart from the other patrons. When walking into the soup kitchen we first saw other RWU students who were at the soup kitchen volunteering. Those volunteers clearly recognized us as fellow students, but had no idea why we were there and we definitely received looks of pity from them.

When walking into the actual dining area of the soup kitchen I was shocked by how full it was! In a small town like Bristol, I never would have expected so many people to utilize the soup kitchen. We were clearly the youngest people there, which I think made us stand out somewhat, but I do have to say we weren’t young by far. There were definitely some other diners there who couldn’t have been much older than 30 years of age, which was surprising to me. Furthermore, although everyone may have looked up when we initially entered the dining area, we were not made to feel uncomfortable by any means. The diners either kept to themselves or sat with their friends and caught up, nobody gave us a second glance.

The food at the soup kitchen wasn’t bad at all. We received a balanced meal of spaghetti, meatballs, corn, bread and even a cupcake for dessert! If you wanted a second helping, the soup kitchen was accommodating. I left my meal at the soup kitchen feeling more than full!

We also received one grocery bag overflowing with food items from the soup kitchen for me and my two roommates. I found the contents of this bag interesting, because it literally contained the same food items we bought on our trip to the grocery store. We were given the option between chicken or hot dogs and we chose hot dogs. Other items in the bag included peanut butter, hot dog rolls, rice, canned vegetables, pasta, mashed potatoes, tuna and cereal. Had we known we were going to get such an abundance of food all we would have had to buy was milk when we went to the grocery store! The only minor difference between the food we purchased and the items in the soup kitchen grocery bag was that we bought frozen vegetables versus the non perishable canned vegetables we were given.

Overall I had a good experience at the soup kitchen. I will admit I was very nervous entering into this experience, but the other visitors weren’t concerned with us. The staff who worked at the soup kitchen was welcoming, the patrons visiting that day went about their own business and the food was great!