Local Soup Kitchen thanks community for 25 years of support
Don Burton, longtime volunteer for the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen, served homemade ice cream to attendees at the non-profit's twenty-fifth birthday celebration on Sept. 19.
To say thank you to the community for its generosity over the years, the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen hosted a 25th birthday party on Sept. 19. Around 150 community members attended the event at Mill Pond Park.
Suzanne Woods, board member at the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen, said the non-profit began as a means to specifically feed students at Central Michigan University.
“International students were eating ketchup sandwiches because they couldn’t afford good nutritional meals,” Woods said. “Many beginning people who (came to the kitchen) were students. Then the community people started to come in.”
Activities included live music from Michigan locals Chad Benson and Ed Lutz, as well as food and games for children.
The kitchen was started in 1990 as a class project for CMU student Gary Taylor.
Woods said the kitchen has shifted to being more “community focused” since it’s opening, although students are still always welcome to come in and eat.
“We are blessed we have Central Michigan University,” Woods said. “(The) majority of our volunteers come from there.”
Many students come in from groups at CMU to volunteer, or to complete service learning requirements for a class or program. Several churches, local organizations and individuals also support the kitchen and donate on a regular basis.
“Today we had teams, sororities and fraternities come in,” Woods said.
The kitchen serves around 100 hot lunches everyday said Executive Director for the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen Kim Friedrich.
“We have an open door policy, so anyone is welcome to join us for meals," Friedrich said. "We don’t take ID or have any restrictions on who can join us.”
While the birthday party was not a fundraiser, the group does host several fundraising events throughout the year.
The kitchen is open for breakfast at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday and for lunch everyday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
More information on the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen can be found at www.icsk.org.
