FAQ
General Questions:
Who do you serve? Anyone that walks through our doors can be fed. No questions asked.
What are your serving times? Sundays: The doors open at 12:30pm and the meal is served 1:00-1:30pm Monday-Saturday: The doors open at 5:00pm and the meal is served from 5:30-6:00pm
Volunteering:
I would like to sign myself or a group up to volunteer at the soup kitchen, how could I do so? The form on this page can be filled out: https://www.sharingbread.com/volunteers
We have a group that would like to serve at the soup kitchen. What does serving entail? Groups are in charge of planning, preparing, and serving the meal and then cleaning up afterwards.
Do we have to provide the food for the meal? We have a pantry, freezer, and fridge full of food, at the Soup Kitchen, that groups can use to make the meal. Some groups bring their own food (must be prepared in a commercial kitchen), some groups use a combination of their own and ours, and some groups only use the food available at the Soup Kitchen.
Does the food have to be made at the Soup Kitchen? No. The food doesn’t have to be make at our facility, but it does have to be made in a commercial kitchen. We have groups that make the meal at their own church, business, organization’s commercial kitchen and just bring it over to the Soup Kitchen to serve the guests. We even have groups that keep things super simple for themselves and purchase food from a restaurant, bring it to the Soup Kitchen, and serve it to the guests.
How many people do we need to help serve at the Soup Kitchen? Most groups use about 6-8 people to serve the meal. Some groups more and some groups use less. It is totally up to the group. Typically if you have younger volunteers, more volunteers would be needed. The more volunteers used the more groups have time to interact with the guests and the quicker cleanup goes.
What time do groups need to arrive at the Soup Kitchen for their day of serving? Sundays: The doors open at 12:30pm and the meal is served from 1:00-1:30pm Monday-Saturday: The doors open at 5:00pm and the meal is served from 5:30-6:00pm. It all depends on what the group decides to make and how early they need to come prepare the meal. Typically the groups arrive at least a hour before the doors open, but it is all up to the group themselves. We ask that groups allow enough time so food has the proper time to cook.
We have never served at the Soup Kitchen, do we get trained in before our day of serving? Yes!! We like to meet each group coordinator ahead of time at the Soup Kitchen to show them around, do about a 15 minute orientation, and answer any questions they may have.
Are groups told what to make for their meal? Groups are welcome to choose what they make for their meal, as long as it is a healthy, balanced meal.
Are there any age restrictions for serving? We do not have any age restrictions. We think serving at the Soup Kitchen is a wonderful experience for all ages. We do however ask that any children are supervised at all times while at the Soup Kitchen.
Do you need any volunteers for things other than mealtime? Yes! We use volunteers for many different things at the soup kitchen. We use volunteers to help do deep cleaning, mowing the lawn, snow removal, watering trees, ground cleanup, etc. If you are interested in helping with any of these things the volunteer form can be found here: https://www.sharingbread.com/volunteers
Donations:
What type of donations do you accept? We run the Soup Kitchen on donations, so any help whether it is monetary donations or food donations are extremely helpful. More information on donations can be found here: https://www.sharingbread.com/donations
Do you take clothing or household good donations? We do not. We focus on feeding people at the soup kitchen and let other great area organizations handle donations like those.
When can we drop off donations? Any donations can be dropped off during our normal serving hours and be given to one of the volunteers. If our normal serving hours don’t work, please feel free to contact us at 218-829-4203 to set up another time to drop off.