The groups and individuals that put together meals for the local Soup Kitchen, located in the basement of the United Methodist Church on W. Winnemucca Blvd., serve faithfully one night a month and Winnemucca Food Bank Director and Soup Kitchen Coordinator Barbara Sealy explained that the Soup Kitchen is currently looking for volunteers to fill in once a month on the first Wednesday of each month.
The meals are served from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and the volunteers are there to prep, serve, and do a quick clean up afterwards, according to Sealy, which is usually about a two hour time commitment, serving anywhere from five to 25 people on a given night.
Soup Kitchen meals are free to anyone and everyone, no questions asked, in a cafeteria-style setting, with a flexible schedule for volunteers and rarely closes for any reason.
“We have had a recent vacancy but we really appreciate the groups that we have and we have a dedicated bunch of people,” said Sealy.
With the cold winter weather usually bringing more people into the Food Bank and the Soup Kitchen, having the vacancy filled and even having extra volunteers would be a great help.
Sealy explained that the Food Bank has seen recent uptake in people coming in for food, about 700 per month compared to the previous 450-500 people, and they have also received some very generous donations from local businesses and organizations that have been very helpful since the Food Bank is 100 percent funded by the generosity of local grocery stores and donations form other local businesses and individuals.
“People really appreciate having a nice hot meal when they need it and that we’re there for them,” explained Sealy.
Volunteers can get the materials for meals at the Soup Kitchen from the Food Bank, which is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or bring their own and serve meals potluck style or however they would like, giving volunteers the freedom to prepare meals that work for them.
“There’s a lot of help and guidance if volunteers need it too and it’s really a relatively small commitment,” said Sealy.
The Soup Kitchen is also going to provide a Christmas Eve brunch that will be served at 1 p.m. on Dec. 24, deviating slightly from their regular hours in order to accommodate volunteers, but also still providing a good holiday meal to those in need.
Providing meals at the Soup Kitchen to those in the community that need them is a tremendously valuable local service, for both families and individuals, especially around the holidays, and the program has been able to grow from two nights a week in the past all the way to four nights a week the last couple of years, according to Sealy.
“Those interested in serving at the Soup Kitchen can just call me to get involved and we currently have the one vacancy but it would be really nice to have extra volunteers that could fill in too” said Sealy.
Call the Food Bank at (775) 625-2223 for more information and leave a message or talk directly to Sealy to get involved.