Community soup kitchen seeks volunteers for summer events

 

By Reed Clements

 

Tennille’s Hope, Whitecourt’s community soup kitchen, is preparing for some busy fundraising events this summer, and needs volunteers to help work those events.

 

The kitchen, which has been the only one of its kind in Whitecourt for 10 years, offers home-cooked meals on Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. They also provide a soup and sandwich service on Mondays during the winter months.

 

Tennille’s Hope also offers winter clothes, sleeping bags, and a place to shower to those in need. Always looking for new ways to offer a hand up to community members, the kitchen has begun to offer courses on self-esteem, anxiety, and personal finance.

 

The kitchen is volunteer-run, and during its busy summer fundraising events, it needs more volunteers than usual. These events include running a food tent during Party-in-the-Park on June 16 and 17 this year, as well as during the Canada Day festivities.

 

These events require volunteers able to work three to four hour shifts “to cook, to serve, to take the order, and to generally clean up,” according to manager Wanda Belbin. “If we can get a lot of people, we can do two hours at a time,” she added.

 

Party-in-the-Park, in particular, is the kitchen’s “biggest fundraiser,” according to Belbin. It will require over 50 volunteers over the two-day event in Rotary Park.

 

Only two weeks later, the kitchen will once again set up their concession stand in Rotary Park to celebrate Canada’s 150^th anniversary.

 

Volunteers will trade a few hours of their time for a sense of satisfaction as they enjoy the rest of their weekend outside with the community.

 

Interested volunteers should call the kitchen at 780-778-8316.