STAMFORD, Conn. With only three full-time employees and an increasing client base in the southwestern tip of Connecticut, the New Covenant House of Hospitality needs volunteer help to run efficiently. Fortunately over the past year, more than 600 groups have helped out at the soup kitchen.
We are truly blessed that we have groups that want to come in and help, said Betsy Lopez, program coordinator at the soup kitchen. While based on Fairfield Avenue in Stamford, the soup kitchen serves the needy and homeless from Greenwich, Darien and New Canaan as well.
Volunteers come to the soup kitchen from as far north as New Haven and as far south as New York City, and from a variety of churches, locally based companies, families and other organizations, she said. The soup kitchen provides lunch and dinner seven days a week.
Lopez and the rest of the staff are not the only ones that appreciate the volunteer help the clients are thankful as well. They realize it is people helping people, Linda Koe, a volunteer and member of the soup kitchens advisory board, said of the reactions she has gotten from clients.
The holidays are no different, and often Lopez begins booking volunteers in August because so many are interested in giving their time then, she said.
On Christmas, the clients of the soup kitchen will get a special treat as a team of volunteers from Stamfords Temple Sinai takes over the New Covenant House of Hospitality. In addition to preparing and serving meals, the volunteers will be greeting diners, talking with them as they eat and having children sing Christmas carols.
We do all we can to give them a special time, said Sally Kelman, who is heading up the group from Temple Sinai.
Kelman and the rest of the congregation at the synagogue have been volunteering every Christmas to allow staff members and other volunteers to spend time with their families for the holiday. About 60 to 70 families at Temple Sinai participate in some way, Kelman said, adding that she usually has to turn people away.
People who use the soup kitchen will also be treated with a post-Christmas meal served by a family from New York on Dec. 28, another annual tradition at New Covenant House of Hospitality, Lopez said.
We all need to think of other people, not just on Christmas but all year round, Kelman said, adding that she volunteers at the soup kitchens pantry and used to be a board member for New Covenant House.
In addition to helping out the needy, the soup kitchen also provides hot meals to the students at the Yerwood Centers after-school program. People looking to volunteer at New Covenant House of Hospitality can do so by calling Lopez at 203-964-8228.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
