On Dec. 19 the soup kitchen plans to feed everyone in need a traditional holiday feast
Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen doesn’t just help out our community during the holidays but it is hoping that people remember them this holiday season if they would like to give a financial or food donation to a group doing good.
“Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen is a program that offers lunch and a sense of belonging to our clients. They can come here and we can have lunch at 11 o’clock. They can come for coffee earlier and just sit and talk. It’s a place to get warm in the wintertime. I believe that we provide an environment where people feel welcome and the volunteers are generally some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet,” said Barbara Pasaur, coordinator of Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen.
Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen is a non-profit in our community that supplies those who stop by Selkirk’s Memorial Hall from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday with a warm meal.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they serve soup and sandwiches and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’s a different warm meal. Some examples of other warm meals this time of year could be chilli and garlic bread, stew or pasta.
On Thursdays, the soup kitchen also gives away any extra grocery donations to clients that they receive that aren’t used by them to make lunches, like microwave meals. Also, during certain times of the year, when they sometimes get generous donations of perishable items, they make sure that people who stop in grab some so that everything is eaten and nothing is wasted.
The soup kitchen is completely staffed by volunteers and the soup kitchen board would like to acknowledge the hard work that they do to make Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen possible.
Volunteers come in each weekday at about eight in the morning to start making lunch. Each day there is a person in charge of what meal is going to be prepared and that person uses what’s been donated to the soup kitchen to create a delicious lunch.
Residents will likely know the Monday Meal Coordinator and Chief Soup Maker, Cst. Paul Human, who is also a board member.
“We have seen an uptick in the percentage of people coming in, in the two years that I’ve been here. Since food prices have gone up, we’ve seen maybe, like, instead of 30 for a minimum, we’re getting maybe 40 (people stopping by). And, we’re extremely blessed here with a lot of the donations that we get,” he said.
The soup kitchen is heavily used in our community as it serves more than 400 people per week. In 2023, they served more than 20,000 meals and since opening their doors in 1991 they have served more than one million meals.
The soup kitchen board say that there is no particular group of people that they see coming into the soup kitchen. It’s a resource that’s used by pretty much everyone from those who are seniors to families with small children and everyone in between.
Residents who might appreciate a little help with their food bills or are looking for community should know that Thursday, Dec. 19, is a great time to check out the soup kitchen as they will serve hundreds of people a traditional holiday feast.
Pasaur said that the one thing she’d like to change is the amount of people who know about the soup kitchen.
“I don’t feel that we are well enough known within the community. Not just, your person who’s living in their own home and doing just fine, but by the people who are in need. We need people to know that it’s a good place to come. There’s no shame in coming to the soup kitchen for lunch. It’s actually a fun thing to do,” she said.
Soup kitchen regular Albert Gunn agrees that the soup kitchen is a welcoming space.
“You get to meet new people. Enjoy the company. Enjoy the food,” said Gunn.
Human also encourages people to come.
“It’s a non-judgmental place that people can come. We discussed this earlier, that the soup kitchen just isn’t about the food, it’s about the atmosphere. It’s about family. And if you’re missing that in your life, this is a place to come,” he said.
If you would like to make a donation to the soup kitchen, one easy way is to drop by the back door when they are open. If you want to give a financial donation it can also be donated online through their website.
If you would like to learn more about Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen you can check them out online at www.ourdailybreadselkirk.com for questions please call Pasaur at 204-754-0258.
