Isabella Community Soup Kitchen sees heavy traffic over winter break

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With all of the holiday season’s hustle and bustle, it is sometimes difficult to find time to give a helping hand.

But that didn’t stop the Mount Pleasant Community from providing support to those in need with efforts through the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen, 621 S. Adams St.

Genny Sobaski, the executive director of the soup kitchen, has made it her mission to alleviate hunger for over 17 years.

Pat Spence of Mount Pleasant eats an apple crisp Thursday at the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen, 621 S. Adams St. Spence also takes care of the recycling for the kitchen. Genny Sobaski, soup kitchen executive director, said the kitchen served about 100 families during the holiday break. (Photo by Erica Kearns/Staff Photographer)

At 8 a.m. the doors are opened for patrons to a continental breakfast with no questions asked. It is a warm haven from the cold in the winter months, Sobaski said.

“Seven days a week we serve breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. we serve hot lunches,” she said. “On Sundays the kitchen is run by Mount Pleasant Community Church.”

“We average on a daily basis 85 to 120 meals … it varies,” she said. “If the weather is bad we end up with a ton of  people.”

The kitchen had an increase in patrons all year because of the economic downturn, and a special increase more during this holiday break than last, she said.

More children came in with their families for a meal because they were off from school, Sobaski said.

The soup kitchen collects items for care packages for patrons as they pass through the lunch lines during the week of Christmas, she said.

“We have tons of CMU students that volunteer,” Sobaski said. “Because of finals and Christmas break we will be missing the volunteerism and support.”

Monroe sophomore Kara Waldecker has volunteered at the kitchen and enjoyed it.

“You get a chance to interact with a variety of people,” she said. “You also feel very useful because they can always use more help. It is a rewarding experience.”

Waldecker said the kitchen only had four volunteers on Saturday instead of its regular 10 to 12.

In the winter months the soup kitchen is fortunate to receive food from local businesses that donate leftovers from banquets or social gatherings, she said.

With taxes in mind, people respond by donating this time of year, she said.

Recently 5,500 pounds of canned goods were donated from Mount Pleasant Public Schools.

Because of Michigan’s economy, the kitchen has seen many more people needing its services the past couple years, and they are thankful for more donations, Sobaski said.