Serving Greenheart Soup

By: Molly Friend, Greenheart Outreach Coordinator

Each winter the CCI Greenheart staff ventures out of our offices to Chicago’s north side to volunteer at the St. Thomas of Canterbury Soup Kitchen. This winter was Greenheart’s third year volunteering at the soup kitchen. Each year is the same. Consistency and quality make this soup kitchen a fun, warm, welcoming place to be. We are welcomed by seasoned volunteers who have committed themselves to serving others.  CCI Greenheart volunteers are immediately put to work.  Once we have our aprons on, we are sent to chop vegetables, sort bread, and set tables. Then Jim the soup kitchen coordinator, who has been there for over 30 years, brings the volunteers together.  He talks about the importance of giving a good, warm meal to the homeless of Chicago. Jim emphasizes the respect and care each guest is given at the soup kitchen and that there is no limit to the amount of soup anyone can eat. There is always enough to go around. We served nearly 200 guests on the nights we were there.  All of our Greenheart volunteers leave feeling grateful to have connected with a population of our city that is often ignored. We look forward to doing the same thing next year, sharing a meal with the homeless of Chicago.