40th Anniversary Commemoration For Mercer-Based Soup Kitchen

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) will be hosting a community BBQ this Saturday to commemorate its 40th anniversary and first-ever weekend meal service.

The BBQ will be held at 72 ½ Escher Street from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The outdoor event will feature delicious food, live music from TASK’s house band The FunkTASKtiks, and family-friendly activities courtesy of the Isles T-Recs Truck.

TASK was founded by community organizers in 1982 and began with serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the basement of the First United Methodist Church of Trenton—now Turning Point United Methodist Church. This later evolved into an 8,000 meal-per-week operation that serves at 34 sites throughout the greater Mercer County area, including its Escher Street dining room in Trenton.

“While it’s difficult to call this a ‘celebration,’ since it’s hard to rejoice in the fact that hunger is still an urgent issue facing our community, it is also important to recognize and applaud all of the heroic contributions that have made TASK what it is today,” Joyce E. Campbell, TASK Executive Director said in a statement.

“We thought, what better way to observe our 40th than by inviting the Trenton area community—the people we serve—to come together at TASK to enjoy good food, good music and good company!”

The event will also see the launch for TASK’s weekend meal service.

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of things have contributed to a surge in food insecurity, with many people experiencing hunger for the very first time in their lives. Increases in the price of gas, rent and groceries, along with unprecedented inflation, has contributed to a significant rise in the demand for food relief programs like ours,” Campbell said.

“We hear from so many people that the meals they receive from TASK are what enables them to pay their rent, utility and medical bills. Seniors living on fixed incomes, folks with disabilities and families are struggling the most right now.”

After the BBQ, at 1 p.m., those who wish to join can move indoors for a brief ceremony that will feature reflections on TASK’s history and an opportunity to recognize several important contributors. There will also be a dedication to Bruce Howard, a long-time staffer who died during the pandemic.

TASK will honor three volunteers with the President’s Volunteer Service Award and will also recognize Assemblyman Dan Benson for his work on identification with the Advocate of the Year Award, and consultant Irwin Stoolmacher will receive the Geltzer Family Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of work helping to guide TASK’s development.

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