Lending a Helping Hand

This past weekend I had the opportunity to volunteer at a soup kitchen to feed the homeless. My friend's church helps out once in a while at The Scott Mission and he had promised to take our friend there and asked if  I would be interested in volunteering too. Absolutely!
I have never volunteered at a soup kitchen before. I have volunteered to help build a house with Habitat for Humanity and volunteered as a childcare assistant community programs for little kids in Waterloo but this was definitely a first time and was looking forward to every moment of it.
We arrived just before 9:00am and put on our plastic aprons after signing in. We were asked to help set up the tables. Everything was very organized and in its correct spot. While my friend and I set the tables, there was another group of volunteers cutting slices of pie to place at each spot at the tables. My other friend had disappeared into the freezer room.

Dining Hall

When everything was set and ready to go, Raoul, one of the workers there briefed us on how everything would flow.
10:30am: first round to come in
10:40am: start serving the main meal
11:00am: start cleaning up
11:30am: second round to come in
11:40am: start serving the main meal
12:00pm: clean up

Me cleaning away...what I do best haha :)

Simple enough. I was one of the servers. We all lined up in the kitchen and carried a tray of 6 plates out to the table we were directed to. The two people sitting at the end of the table would take the plates and pass them down the table. There wasn't much talking amongst the individuals and some of them were very polite. During the meals, there was a police officer standing on duty at the back of the dining hall.
When the first round was up, we started cleaning up and all the volutneers worked as a team to clean, wipe down the tables, wash the cutlery and dishes and reset the tables to get ready for the second round.
According to Raoul, there weren't as many people coming for meals this time because the government had just sent out HST cheques. Once the money ran out, then the soup kitchen would be full again.

Main Meal Dish

Kitchen with 2 huge soup pots

I watched as some of the individuals would go around and collect food from other plates left behind, some pouring the remainder of the soup into plastic containers, and putting the bread into plastic bags. This would most likely be their meal for later.

It is always good to lend a helping hand and to help others that are in need.