All members do 4 hours of community service in support of hunger programs in North Brooklyn.
There are a variety of shifts available. 4 hours at the soup kitchen, either during an actual meal or during saturday workdays. There is also a dessert shift which involves baking in your own home and driving shifts which involve having your own car. This page contains logistical information about the shifts at the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen.
The Greenpoint Soup Kitchen is an (amazing) project organized by The Greenpoint Church -
The church is located at 136 Milton St, between Manhattan Ave & Franklin St. 1 block from Greenpoint G station. “Walkable” from Nassau G Train & Bedford L Train stops. Check train schedules for shutdowns. G train will be closed many many weekends during the Summer of 2014 for hurricane repairs.
The kitchen is the hub of the Hunger Program. It is found at the back of the church. The church space is used by many groups — for both public and private events. Pay attention to signage and don’t stress out if you walk in on a yoga class, just ask for directions to the kitchen.
Soup Kitchen Meal…
..is held every Wednesday evening 6-7pm. Depending on your volunteer shift, you will be helping out any time between 3-9pm.If you are volunteering for the meal, set up begins at 3pm and clean up ends at 9pm.
The soup kitchen itself is located at the rear of the church - walk in the front door and to the room on your left. The kitchen is through some doors at the back of that room. So many people come and help at the soup kitchen and so much happens at the church, that they are used to people wandering in and out - so happily, (but politely in case there is a meeting in progress), walk on through to the kitchen.
When volunteering, be sure to introduce yourself and check in with Hunger Program Coordinator, CB. She will get you started. The soup kitchen meal is a labor of love, produced from a kitchen that is WAY TOO SMALL to be producing such a fine meal. It is essential that volunteers @ the meal be critical thinkers who can work well independently and not need a whole lot of supervision. The following is a general guideline for tasks & needs during the various shift hours:
- 3-530: General clean-up & prep of dining room and backyard dining area. General meal prep (i.e. lots of chopping and washing of fruits and vegetables)
- 530-630: Prep and plating of dessert
- 6-7: Serving the meal. Cleaning the kitchen. Trash!
- 7-8: Dishes! Mopping! Cleaning! Trash! Paisley CSA drop off
- 8-9: Greenpoint-Williamsburg CSA drop off. Prep for Food Pantry
For more info and tons of images on the soup kitchen visit Craig’s Kitchen.
Saturday Soup Kitchen Shifts - 12-2pm
Saturdays at the Soup Kitchen are lots of cleaning, unloading vegetables & veggie fun…
The Greenpoint Soup Kitchen gets its produce from the Greenpoint-Williamsburg CSA. On a Saturday some of our volunteers are assigned to help unload the produce, clean it, chop it up and file it away, ready for the evening meal on Wednesday. This shift is on a Saturday between 1230-230pm at the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen.We also clean the fridges & freezers, weed & water the kitchen garden in the backyard, churn the compost pile, make general repairs in the kitchen & garden, and tackle some cleaning projects. You will in general be working with the soup kitchen volunteers to get things ready for the upcoming wednesday meal and thursday food pantry. Get ready to get a little dirty, get industrious, and follow instructions from the lovely soup kitchen volunteer superheroes.
In addition, during some of the Saturday shifts will be cooking, canning & pickling as much as we can! This is our attempt to put up as much produce for the harsh Winter months. It is the soup kitchen chef’s goal to serve as much local & organic produce in the weekly meals and we feel that these canning and pickling shifts will help the kitchen attain that goal.
People in the kitchen will be involved in cleaning projects and prepping veggies for processing and storage. Any sugar & vinegar donations you can bring will really help the kitchen’s bottom-line. Before we leave, we have to mop and leave the kitchen one million times better than when we arrived.
Be aware that there is an AA meeting at the church which finishes right around Noon on Saturdays. You could arrive to a big crowd out front. Have no fear, just make your way through the masses, entering through the main doors, making a left and then heading back to the kitchen.
