Volunteer Week: Stone Soup Cooks with Love

By doing something as simple as cooking, you can be a deity -- that’s the secret of volunteering, says Fran Halperin, a founder of the Stone Soup group that delivers dinner monthly at Mill Street Center.

“They clap for us when we sit down,” she says. “I feel like a goddess.”

Stone Soup began five years ago with friends gathered by Halperin after she returned from volunteering in Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina. Her experience prompted her to find a local organization that could use help, which led her to our year-round emergency shelter for 55 men and women.

Once a month, the group gets together to prepare vegetable, main course and dessert delivered to the shelter, where three or four members usually stay to serve and sit down for dinner.

“People really love to serve,” Fran says. “I totally look forward to it. The residents are really interesting. They’re just like us – we’re all that step away from hitting bottom without a support community.”

Stone Soup is part of Homeward Bound's largest volunteer program: a rotation of congregations and community groups that delivers dinner nightly to the shelter for a contribution valued at $100,000 yearly. Homeward Bound now seeks teams to fill two days on the monthly calendar -- contact Volunteer Coordinator Andrea Rey for details.

After years of doing the shopping and organizing, Fran has turned over those responsiblities to Gabe Barkin. A core group of six to 10 people participates regularly, while the 80 to 100 people on the mailing list might cook only once or twice a year.

“We’re no longer re-inventing the wheel,” she says. “We’ve gotten efficient so it takes about two hours start to finish. We love it.”

To find out more, visit online at facebook.com/groups/StoneSoupMarin.