By VASHTI HARRIS
Staff Writer
JAMESBURG — Aiming to supply nourishment, spiritual comfort and solidarity to the community, the Food and Fellowship Soup Kitchen of St. James the Less Roman Catholic Church provides free meals to those in need.
First established in 2014, the soup kitchen is situated in the parish hall in the basement at St. James the Less, 36 Lincoln Ave., Jamesburg, according to Deacon Patrick Smith.
“Other than the obvious free meal, there is an atmosphere of service and a feeling of belonging that we try to get across. The idea of course is for food and fellowship that serves not only the physical needs, but also feeds a spiritual and social emptiness that is one of the more unfortunate side effects of economic hardship,” Smith said.
Currently, the meals are offered from 3-6 p.m. every Tuesday. The church is raising money to update the soup kitchen, and donations can be sent directly to the church’s address along with a note for the purpose, according to Smith.
“We take food whenever it is convenient for the person [who is] making the donations. We especially are in need of proteins or supermarket gift cards to buy those proteins,” Smith said.
The kitchen has more than 20 volunteers who consist mostly of parishioners and other church members, according to Smith.
“We have also wonderful volunteers that help us from the sideline, like the owners of the Jamesburg Diner and Genco Trucking Inc., who consistently help us on a monthly, if not weekly, basis. We have also been recently reached out [to] by Carrabba’s Italian Grill in East Brunswick [which] is the first large-scale corporation to help us directly,” Smith said.
To volunteer at the soup kitchen, call 732-521-0100. For more information, contact Smith at deaconpatstjames@gmail.com or call 732-233-6970.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
