Soup Kitchen

Every Wednesday throughout the year, a meal is served at The Shore Line Soup Kitchen Clinton site – the United Methodist Church. On average 50 meals are served weekly. Rotating with other area churches and civic organizations, First Church hosts the meal 10 times each year. 

The experience of helping out at the soup kitchen is rewarding for many reasons - it is a simple way to give back to someone who needs a meal, parents bring their children assuring they will have a nutritious dinner, the working poor attend and we do not ask for residence information so all who come are served. We have quite a special group who come to help out – most are members of our church but some are from other churches as well. The leader for the night is responsible for coordinating our efforts and, although this is a serious commitment to our community, we do enjoy ourselves and leave with a feeling of having made someone’s life a bit better by volunteering.

We have discovered a new resource of ordering food for the soup kitchen directly from the Shoreline Soup Kitchen/Pantry, at no cost to our church. A special thank-you to Betty Rice who has continued to keep our church pantry well stocked with food items from the Shoreline Pantry. This has been especially important as budgets becoming tighter and our Missions Committee provides the monetary support needed for the Soup Kitchen. We estimate that the cost of preparing meals at our cook-off, supplemented with Pantry donations, has been @$1.34 per person this year. More than providing nutritious and healthy meals, the soup kitchen ministry offers welcome, acceptance, and fellowship to all who attend the meals.