The Common Good
Free Soup Kitchen Program                              

The Soup Kitchen program started in February of 2009 as a free standing, volunteer, temporary effort. The major focus of the Common Good Soup Kitchen Community is to continue the free soup kitchen on a permanent, sustainable basis. We will continue to produce no less than 50 quarts every week, (200 portions) of soups and salads made from whole grains and vegetables, that are low in sodium and contain the appropriate herbs and spices, and distribute them for free to those who can benefit from this service. We will continue to deliver this food in containers to the senior residence in Southwest harbor and to other individuals in need. Deliveries are made through our volunteer network.

We will be working closely with the Westside Food pantry to supplement their services, and to further identify individuals in need, particularly in the difficult winter months. As resources increase through cafe/market sales and donations, we will expand the program to include other senior residences and more individuals. We intend to place advertisements regarding the soup deliveries and kitchen in places that we hope will reach people we might be missing; this could potentially expand our weekly distribution by 200%. We live in a small community. We cannot feed the world, the country nor even the county we live in, but with our compassionate community, our band of board members, and dedicated volunteers, we can make our food available to everyone, each and everyone who needs it, in our own community.

Our program is unique in several ways. The most obvious is that we deliver the food to the clients, so they do not have to come to us. We have volunteers who deliver food on an individual basis; often the people who benefit most from our food deliveries are older people living at home with limited resources and/or mobility. In addition to soups, we make “salads” in response to our clients expressed demand: whole grain salads, pasta salads, roasted root salads - not lettuce and tomato or bibb lettuce salads! When our master chef delivers the food himself, he listens to the recipients and tailors his food production to their needs and desires, which is how the salads got added. We give enough for four portions of soup to some people in a single container, not a single bowl, and our products, because they are vegan [no animal products are involved], they keep very well in the refrigerator, thus supplying food that lasts over several days from our weekly distribution.

But most of all, frankly, it is quality that makes us unique. Our food is truly nutritious and delicious. So many of our clients have spontaneously reported feeling better after eating common good soups and salads: was it the nutritional value or the deliciousness that made them feel better? Probably both! Pleasure heals the mind and the body. Our clients are getting healthful food of the quality that would be served in a high end eatery, our clients are getting the best food that can be produced, not 'basic fill them up for cheap food'. They do not get one flavor to fit all for the week, they get several soups and salads each week, a variety of tempting tastes. They are in effect getting menu items from the cafe at no cost and they are getting FIRST DIBS so to speak, not the leftovers. First we produce the fresh foods of the week for the soup kitchen clients, and then we sell what is left over, that is the plan, instead of the other way round. They recognize the difference. As one Octogenarian told our Chef Bill: "Your food is delicious. Your food makes us feel good. Your food is what we need, we need more of your food, not that other food."