Not the soup kitchen in your mind...

Friday I went with a group of girls to feed the homeless in Camden.

I guess I was expecting a gross, dirty place. With a lot of gross, undesirable people. There were policemen guarding the street because of all the crazy fires Camden has been having in the area. We didn't know this at first and thought for sure there had been a murder or something. (There wasn't!) The lady that runs the place told me a lot of people think it's actual firemen setting the fires because of the all the layoffs. (I've always heard firemen are pyros!!)

I was wrong on all accounts. The Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, NJ started in 1976 but in 2008 moved to their current location on Federal Street.


We arrived and the outside of the building was the first thing that surprised me. It was very nice with fenced in parking. There were hungry people on the front porch waiting. We knocked and were let in.

All the tables were set with placemats, plasticware, tastykakes and a bottles of water. 

We had to wear plastic aprons and gloves. Our first job was to form an assembly line and fill bags with an apple, an orange and a sandwich. These bags were placed on each chair - a snack for each person to take home with them.

Then we were given assignments. Before they let any people in, we started delivering plates of food to each place setting. They were served seasoned baked chicken with rice and fruit. After about 5 tables had food on them, they started letting people in. They only let about 16 people in at a time until a table was full and so on.

At this point I started doing my assignment: foil & bag table. And to be honest, when she gave me that job I thought I'd be bored. But apparently a lot of people like to take their food home!

Since they had opened the doors to let people in and the dining room had filled to about 300...it got a little hot. You can imagine how it feels to have a plastic apron and gloves on when you're sweating.

It went very quickly. Everyone seemed very appreciative and thanked us a lot. A few even said we were angels. It was very nice.

I think the thing that surprised me the most were the amount of people with cell phones. The woman who runs the place told us that most of these people do have homes but are on welfare so when the money runs out...they're busier in the middle and end of the month.

There were tables designated for families. Children get to have seconds. And they also get a juice AND a milk. It's really kind of heartbreaking to see children and babies who probably haven't eaten all day.

I didn't take these photos but they show what it looks like at the Cathedral Kitchen. The girls I was with all had the same impression of me. We had a great time. All of the guests were extremely appreciative and thankful. It was a very good experience. I only suggest bringing your own apron. Those plastic things aren't very good when sweat is added. I was a hot, soaking wet mess and my arms kept sticking to my apron.

I know this wasn't exactly the most uplifting and fun thing to read...but it was interesting for me to participate in so I wanted to share. And don't forget....