“Sister Soup Kitchen” & Crew Adapt

“People’s need for a meal isn’t going to change just because of this crisis,” Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church soup kitchen head Bethany Watkins said as volunteers helped her to put on a version of the church’s weekly soup kitchen modified to keep people safe, and fed, amid the spread of Covid-19.

Watkins is a deacon and is in charge of the church’s soup kitchen, which provided the public with warm to-go meals on Sunday.

Like other congregations, Immanuel Baptist was not holding in-person public prayer services, in keeping with measures to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. (Deacon Bill Batts conducted Sunday school over the phone for families.)

But Watkins and her team from the church was still making sure that people who needed food would get fed.

On Sunday the team made 65 to-go plates filled with steak tips, stuffing, green beans, bread, and Oreos.

A small volunteer team made it happen on Sunday by starting prep at 7:30 a.m. Watkins’ close friend and neighbor, Dwyane Brooks has been volunteering in the soup kitchen for about 14 years.

It was the second consecutive Sunday the church has altered the soup kitchen to only offer to-go meals to minimize contact during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In the 14 years that Watkins has been in charge of the soup kitchen, she said, it has closed only once on a Sunday.

Watkins said the soup kitchen is a direct extension of her devotion to her faith. ​“This is not community service. This is ministry,” she said.

In the years when holidays like Christmas and Mother’s Day fell on a Sunday, Watkins and volunteers kept the soup kitchen open. ​“It says a lot if there is a snowstorm outside or it’s Christmas and you still got dozens coming to get food. That’s why we do this,” Watkins said.

Before contact concerns were an issue, the soup kitchen would normally operate by inviting the visitors inside to eat the hot meal.

Sunday’s shift started with the preparation and cooking of the food, then packaging, then distribution at the church’s side door.

Watkins recalled a memory from some years ago while hosting the soup kitchen. One Sunday as she was cleaning up and putting away the tables, as visitors left after eating, one visitor asked that Watkins clean up her table last. ​“I never have a place to just sit and eat,” the visitor told Watkins. Watkins described the necessary change from in-person to to-go meals as a somber decision. 

Watkins was born and raised in New Haven alongside church soup kitchen volunteers like George Strong. Watkins’ daughter also joined the team to help on Sunday. Watkins raised her daughter in the church; she always helped her in the soup kitchen.

The Rev. Samuel Ross-Lee joined the team on Sunday, helping with prep and distribution of the meals. Rev. Ross-Lee nicknamed Watkins, ​“Sister Soup Kitchen.”

As the volunteers prepped and packaged, they took extra cleaning precautions and washed their hands after coming in contact with each food item.

Watkins said she worries about the future of the soup kitchen, as the status of supplies at the CT Food Bank remains unknown.

“It’s nerve-wracking being so unsure because the kitchen is necessary to this community,” she said.

Passing on the Values

Watkins’ daughter, Namandje Wali, 21, said growing up in the church and soup kitchen helped her to challenge the idea of volunteer work.

“The soup kitchen was a norm to me, so I don’t like to call it helping it’s just what I should be doing,” she said.

Wali, now a senior at the University of Connecticut, often volunteers at local food banks.

When asked if she had any concerns about possible exposure to Covid-19 while in a public place, Wali said: ​“There’s always going to be concerns about exposure. But I think as long as precautions are taken, being here is like going anywhere you need to go. It’s like going to the grocery store.”

Theresa Ervin, a member of the church and a soup kitchen volunteer, said while she too has concerns about Covid-19, the community’s need for food supersedes her fears. ​“It’s a part of our Christian duty,” she said.

Like Watkins, Ervin grew up at Immanuel Church and raised their kids in the church and soup kitchen.

“I wanted my kids to understand to love people,” she said.

Watkins even planned her high school prom night accordingly, knowing she was going to have to volunteer at the soup kitchen with her family the following day.

Ervin said the soup kitchen became a family affair. ​“I get up every Sunday looking forward to the duty,” Ervin said.

Because of her dedication to the soup kitchen, Ervin has developed close relationships with some of the visitors who get meals regularly. She recalled one night that her car had broken down after a night shift at a hospital. While she was waiting for a tow truck, a regular from the soup kitchen stopped for her on the side of the road and kept her company until he knew she was safe and able to get home.

“Whether you’re the volunteer or the one getting a meal, there’s a mutual respect that is formed,” Ervin said.

Rev. Ross-Lee said the soup kitchen began in the 1990s.

Nearly every visitor picking up a meal expressed Sunday thanks with a ​“God bless you” before leaving.

There has grown to be an expectation for the soup kitchen to be serving the community every Sunday, said Watkins.

The team began handing out meals at 12:45 p.m. offering each visitor one meal. When it came to the last few meals around 2 p.m., the team agreed to give those who asked two meals each.