Community Soup Kitchen to Celebrate Volunteers at Annual Event

With the abundance of wintry weather over the past several months, it has been common to wake up to news of event cancellations, public transportation issues and plenty of school and workplace closings.

One place however that has remained open, not only this past winter but for every weekday over the past 26 years, is Morristown’s . Every weekday, the soup kitchen serves midday meals to between 150 and 300 guests.

Even more impressive, the Community Soup Kitchen has accomplished this feat with only two full-time staff members and six part-time employees; the operation is fueled mainly by a dedicated team of volunteers whose contributions will be celebrated at the organization’s annual "Share the Bounty" event, scheduled for April 13 at the Madison Hotel, in Morris Township.

“We’ve had it for 22 years,” Director of Development and Community Outreach Marla Drury said of the benefit. “It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year.”

The event includes a cocktail buffet and silent auction. Usually, about 300 people attend "and it’s just a great night for everyone to get together and enjoy themselves," Drury said.

Over the course of a single year, about 2,000 people volunteer at the Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center. Share the Bounty serves as an opportunity for all of the volunteers to be recognized for their service and their commitment, with two volunteers receiving awards.

“At this event, we honor our volunteers,” said Heidi Griffee, administrative assistant at the Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center. “Our Executive Director Teresa Connolly will award the Caritas Award to Susan Hubbard, and the Community Leadership award to Mike Maddaluna.”

The Soup Kitchen credits Hubbard with guiding the organization through an especially difficult time when she served as President of the Board of Trustees by assembling a Strategic Planning Council to focus the organization’s fundraising and marketing plans.

Maddaluna, director of food services at Far Hills Country Day School, regularly contributes to the Community Soup Kitchen by holding Family Cooking Nights, where students at Far Hills Country Day stay after school and, joined by their parents, cook casseroles for the Soup Kitchen. Maddaluna also holds an annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the soup kitchen at Far Hills Country Day School.

While the soup kitchen is well-known for providing hot meals at lunchtime, the organization’s services go beyond the nutritional.

“We have a social worker here every day, and we have mental health counselors here as well,” Drury said. “Whatever services people need, we’ll go to whatever lengths we need to help them.”

Volunteers are an integral part of the Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center’s success, Drury said, and there’s a reason why so many people choose to dedicate their time to this organization.

 “It’s a great way for people to give back locally, and it’s very hands-on,” she said.

For the culinary-challenged, Share the Bounty is another way to get involved, learn more about the soup kitchen’s mission and celebrate the accomplishments of its dedicated volunteers.

Tickets are available through April 6. For more information, contact the Community Soup Kitchen office at 973-267-0709.