Soup kitchen enter busy season
BROWNSVILLE – This is the busy season for Theresa Gladden and the Brownsville Soup Kitchen. In addition to preparing free lunches Monday through Friday, Gladden is in the midst of preparing for Thanksgiving dinner for several hundred, organizing a winter coat program for area children, coordinating a Christmas present program and finding out who will be needing help with food for Christmas.
“This is our busiest two months of the year,” said Gladden, who started the soup kitchen in 1986.
The soup kitchen is accepting financial donations for its winter coat voucher program.
The vouchers provide parents with gift certificates to area stores to be used for winter coats, hats, scarves and other outerwear for children.
The children and their parents must reside in the Brownsville Area School District to participate, Gladden said.
Because of the limited number of vouchers, they will only be handed out to people who did not receive a voucher last year.
Gladden said anyone interested in receiving a voucher must apply in person at the soup kitchen on Monday, Dec. 2, between 1 and 3 p.m. No telephone reservations will be accepted for the vouchers, Gladden said.
The soup kitchen is located in the basement of the Brownsville Borough Building at the corner of High and Second streets.
Gladden said the community has been generous in supporting all of the programs at the soup kitchen.
“People that have money are really coming through with it. I think it’s because we run a really good soup kitchen. We don’t turn anyone away,” Gladden said.
That holds true for the daily lunches as well as for special meals like the Thanksgiving dinner that will be served the day before Thanksgiving.
Gladden said meals will be served at the soup kitchen on Wednesday, Nov. 27, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.
In addition, meals will be delivered to residents of Mulligan Manor and the Gallatin Apartments and to any one else in the Brownsville area unable to get out for the holiday meal, as long as they call ahead for the delivery.
“We don’t want anyone going without food because they can’t get out of the house,” Gladden said.
Gladden said volunteers from O.C. Cluss Lumber will be delivering the holiday dinners, as they have for the past several years.
While no more volunteers are needed at the soup kitchen for Thanksgiving, anyone interested in volunteering on a regular basis can contact Gladden at the soup kitchen at 724-785-6731.
The same number can be called to sign area children up for Christmas presents.
The children’s first names and ages will be placed on Christmas trees at area churches and businesses so presents can be purchased for a specific child while maintaining their privacy. Donations of new toys valued at $10 or more will also be accepted by the soup kitchen and matched to needy children.
“We get one bike every year,” Gladden said. “One year, we got four bikes.”
The year, scooters were popular, someone donated seven of the trendy toys to the soup kitchen, Gladden said.