The National Honor Society took a group of students to the Cathedral Soup Kitchen in Camden on October 10. This trip was started last year by Mr. Bausch, one of the advisors for NHS. When a few students expressed an interest to go, a bus was requested to take a group every few months. At first the students had to pay fifteen dollars for the bus, but soon it was unanimously decided by the members of NHS that this project should be long-term, and thus the students should not have to pay. To offset the costs, they sold water and pretzels at the 2014 graduation, and enough money was raised to fund this service event.

During the time spent at the soup kitchen, students split up into different groups. Some worked in the kitchen where they put the meal on the plate, in which the servers would then take the plate to a placemat while someone else assigned the people coming in a place to eat. A few tables are reserved for families and there are designated volunteers who served them. Volunteers come from different schools in the area as well as people who make time out of their own work schedule to serve. 

The people who visit the Cathedral Kitchen live in poverty. About 50% who come to the kitchen are homeless or are living with friends and family and friends. Some have jobs but have to choose between paying for rent or buying food. Many of these people become homeless because they don’t have family or friends to help them. The goal of the kitchen is to provide healthy food while also to “affirm each person’s humanity and dignity while guiding them towards self-sufficiency.” Mr. Bausch says, “The best thing about serving at the soup kitchen for NHS students is that it gives them the opportunity to serve in a situation where people desperately need it.  It is difficult to imagine that our brothers, sisters, friends could be suffering as much as some of the clients of Cathedral Kitchen are; however, the students who serve at the soup kitchen see that the individuals and families who come in are really not that different from any of us.  We are all one lost job, one medical crisis, and a couple of bad decisions from being in a desperate situation ourselves.

Serving at Cathedral Kitchen is a good reminder to cherish the blessings we have while sharing anything we can with those who are in a terrible situation.”If you are interested in serving you can go to cathedralkitchen.org to find out more information.

-Mr.  Bausch