IT’S “first come, first served’’ as the Trinity Methodist Church Soup kitchen, which has been running for more than over 20 years, has to turn people away because there is not enough food.
Caretaker Philip Piater said people come in numbers every week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for a bowl of soup and bread.
“It is first come, and first served. We don’t have enough to feed everyone, so we sometimes have no choice but to turn some people away. We get people coming in here from nearby townships, the homeless who are young and old and those who that are looking for work in town,” said Piater.
He said the soup kitchen was started years ago after people would come knocking on the churches doors to ask for food and clothes.
Piater said the number decreases at the end of the month as people get their social grants but it gets packed again on soon after.
“We depend on our own pockets and get sponsors from our church, as well as donations. We get a donation of for bread from a local bakery. However, sometimes the soup does runs out or and sometimes there are just too many people to feed,” he said.
Peter April, who says he has been going to the soup kitchen just to get food in his stomach, says he never misses a day.
“I stay in Pefferville. I walk from there just to get something to eat here. I come here three days a week, I do not work. The bread and soup always helps,” he said.
Nikki Tyibilika, who assists Piater in the kitchen, said she has seen people coming from as far as West Bank to queue in for the soup and bread.
“There is a need in our community for what we are doing here. I see it by the number of people that come here just so they can fill their stomachs and the smile on their faces when they receive their meal,” said Tyibilika.
The soup kitchen starts serving food at 10.30am.
