Elgin's churches welcome the hungry

It's 4:45 p.m. at the Wednesday soup kettle, and the kitchen volunteers are as animated as the taco sauce bubbling on the stove.

There's broccoli to be chopped and salad to be assembled, cakes to be cut and fruit drink to be poured.

But with one eye on the clock and another on the rice, coordinator James Lewis has it under control. He dishes out assignments like his crew dishes out French bread, and they make the 5:30 p.m. serving time.

It's just another Wednesday at Elgin's First Congregational Church soup kettle, and it's a scene that's repeated nearly every day of the year in a church kitchen somewhere in Elgin.

On Thursday, the homeless and hungry (the "soupless," Lewis likes to say) dine at Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Friday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Saturday at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren, Sunday at Elgin Evangelical Free Church, Monday at First United Methodist Church and Tuesday at Zion Lutheran.

Wednesday, it's back to the First Congregational Church. The soupless know the schedule by heart, many relying on the churches for dinner every night before returning to a local shelter or tucking themselves under a bridge or in some dark corner of the city. Others are "working poor," with rent or mortgages to pay, who need help making ends meet.

Elgin Cooperative Ministries, a multi-denominational group that also oversees local food pantries, has been running the soup kettles for 18 years now, feeding up to people who are homeless and/or hungry each night. Lately the numbers are averaging about 70.

Most are men, a handful are women, but "we get a lot of families with kids at the end of the month when they run out of food stamps," said Lewis, who coordinates the seven-church program plus the Wednesday segment.

"I've had as many as four high chairs and about six booster seats going at one time."

Elgin's soup kettle program doesn't always feature soup, though you can get a good ham and bean variety or split pea once in a while in Leon Miller's kitchen at Church of the Brethren.

Generally, entrees run the gamut -- from Lewis' bean-laced sauce over rice, to beef stroganoff, bratwurst and turkey.

"I don't think there's the same thing that goes out maybe twice in a year," Lewis said of First Congregational's fare.

"It's all different. Both Jeff (Small, from the Methodist church) and I are firm believers in using different spices."

Diners can always count on one or two vegetables, salad, bread, beverages and dessert. Most nights there's an assortment of breads, doughnuts or candy for takeaway.

"Foodwise, there's always plenty to eat," said Debra Battin, 53, who became a regular at Elgin's PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) after an assault spiraled into job loss and homelessness.

"They're very gracious at the churches. Some of them, like Zion, will come up and ask if you need anything, whether it's a coat or a pair of shoes."

What they need on Sundays is a ride, since PACE buses don't run Sundays and Elgin Evangelical Free Church, which serves Sunday's meal, is on Big Timber Road. Elgin Evangelical Free runs its own bus to pick up patrons from within the three-block area where four soup kettle churches are located, and then returns them downtown after the meal.

Sunday diners usually get a little musical ambiance -- some of it live. A Judson University choir sang recently for the soup kettle community at Elgin Evangelical Free.

"We really feel that we want to feed them physically and spiritually," said Sunday coordinator Renee Edsall, "but not in a way that's forcing them to listen to a sermon."

Each church runs its night a little differently than the others, and many have a network of congregations, community groups and individuals working alongside them.

At Church of the Brethren, for example, a local Apostolic church takes over the kitchen one Saturday per month, while a Catholic church from Huntley, a United Church of Christ from Bartlett and a Lutheran congregation from Elgin pitch in the other weeks.

Lewis figures probably 30 churches cooperate to put dinner on the table for the under-resourced. Others, primarily Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Elgin, provide breakfast five days a week.

But of course, it's not just the churches that make meals happen.

Fresh meats and produce are contributed by retailers and restaurants all across the area, and just $5 will buy Lewis 20 pounds of beef from the Northern Illinois Food Bank in St. Charles.

Many charitable organizations and high school service clubs assist; they help in the kitchen or glean foods to stock freezers and pantry shelves.

Feeding the hungry is an effort that seems to take all hands on deck, and Lewis said more hands are needed.

Some churches still need help with food preparation; on one recent Monday at the Methodist church, Lewis said, only two volunteers showed up.

Donations of canned goods and money are also needed to refill half-empty shelves at First Congregational and others.

Lewis said the gift of a vehicle would aid in food pick-up from such donors as The Capital Grille in Lombard and Kentucky Fried Chicken in Schaumburg.

Chandler Hope, a freshman at College of DuPage, has been in Lewis' kitchen every Wednesday for seven months with a group from Poplar Creek Church in Bartlett. He finds the soup kettle ministry benefits not only the homeless, but also himself.

"It's just something to do that's good for me and for the community," Hope said. "It's keeping me out of trouble, keeping me busy, and it's opening my eyes to the world."

For more information or to help, call Lewis at (847) 742-4838.