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Mission
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen
is committed to feeding the hungry, comforting the afflicted, seeking justice for the
homeless, and counseling and providing a sense of hope and opportunity to those in need.
Highlights of
2008
Holy Apostles Soup
Kitchen (HASK) served an average of 1,260 meals each weekday in 2008
— a new record that exceeded by 8.7% the previous record of 303,633
meals in 2007. By comparison, just two years ago in 2006, HASK
served 285,155. In total, HASK has served over 6.5 million years in
its 26-year history. These hot and nutritionally-balanced meals,
served from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays, helped sustain our
guests and relieved their hunger.
HASK
Counseling and Referrals (C&R) services held 6,892 sessions, about a
third more than just two years before. These sessions covered needs
like clothing, medical detoxification, and shelter to more complex
requirements like pathways to permanent housing, personality-linked
difficulties, employment, and accessing public benefits. In
addition, we held 5,169 additional sessions that involved personal
hygiene assistance, including the dispensing of razors, soap,
toothpaste, and referrals for showers and haircuts — all matters of
huge importance to our homeless guests in particular.
Our
operating expenses increased to unprecedented levels during the
year. Yet, despite much higher operating costs, HASK had a
successful fund raising year. We braced for a falloff when the
economic downfall began in earnest in the fall, but because
supporters maintained their previous level of assistance, our
revenue did not decline in the fourth quarter from our original
projections. We also had very strong support in the first three
quarters of the year because of the wonderful generosity of a
$100,000 challenge grant, its matching gifts, and extra gifts in
honor of Father Greenlaw who retired in the summer of the year.
Our
volunteers increased their assistance in 2008. The average number
helping us rose from 45-50 on average each weekday to 50-55. They
provided 59,140 hours of service, also a new record and the eighth
consecutive year that this number exceeded 50,000. These volunteers
helped greet the guests, collect the numbered meal tickets given out
to those waiting in line, serve food and beverages, refill water and
milk pitchers, clean the tables, and listen to guests talk about
their lives. Eleven Assistant Volunteer Coordinators (AVCs) helped
assign volunteer tasks and oversee the daily volunteer operation.
Another volunteer helped with data entry and reporting. Nine
volunteers worked as counselors in C&R services to help guests take
the first steps toward getting their lives back on track. In
addition, we had two interns who served as counselors during the
summer.
HASK
advocacy continued to focus on making food stamps available to all
those eligible and for the inclusion of single adult males. We also
continued to look for longer-term solutions to hunger and
homelessness and to press for the need for job creation and
establishment of a living minimum wage to help people out of
poverty.
Father William A. Greenlaw retired in the summer of 2008 after 25
years with Holy Apostles. Mother Elizabeth G. Maxwell, Associate
Rector and HASK Program Director, served as Interim Rector and
Executive Director for the remainder of the year.
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