Food For The Soul

Although I was never homeless for long periods, there were times in the past where I was so swamped with bills that I didn't eat. At the time, I had one dog and two cats and I made sure they ate. Why should they go hungry just because I was the one in debt? I made sure they ate healthy, nutritious meals when I lived off either 2 minute noodles or basic pancakes made with flour, water and curry powder. That was all I could afford for myself.

Empty calories I would call it. It fooled my body into thinking I ate, but there was nothing nutritious in it to give me energy or sustain me through the day so no surprise that I was always tired and began to suffer malnutrition.

Around that time, I discovered what supermarkets and take away places threw in their bins, so after dark, I would go bin hopping, searching for the day's leftovers in the hope of finding something still edible before bugs got to it.

You'd be amazed how many pizzas get dumped at the end of the day by a popular pizza take away, or the amount of fresh produce, still in good condition that fills the bins behind supermarkets.

Don't you ever wonder why many supermarkets chain their bins shut now? It's because they got tired of catching so many freegans (people who live off food other people throw away) raiding their bins at the end of every day. All because they don't want to be sued by the homeless if they get food poisoning. They don't realise that the homeless have no interest in suing anyone for anything. They're just trying to survive.

Nowadays, charities like Ozharvest and Foodbank (in Australia) now communicate with big chain supermarkets and receive goods that they distribute to community shops and soup kitchens.

But I digress. After about six months of living on empty calories, I learned of a soup kitchen one suburb over, and to me, they were a Godsend. They provided hot nutritious meals and for the first time in a long time, I slowly started to get my energy back.

I finally sorted out my debts thanks to another charity, but I've never forgotten how the soup kitchen had helped me and I dreamed of starting my own if I ever got the chance, but with no clue how, I prayed for advice.

Over a decade later, a local community shop opened up in one of the churches here. I became part of that community, for the first time, being able to stock my pantry and fridge with affordable healthy food, and on occasion, even luxury items that I would never dream of buying due to their cost. But then, items that I would see as luxury, others would see as necessity.

For the next few months, I hoarded my food. I'd overstock my pantry in fear of going through another period where I couldn't afford to buy anything. It took me a year to accept that I was never going to go hungry again and I could stop hoarding my food and stop rationing what I ate each day.

The church this shop opened up in became a big part of my everyday life. I volunteer there, participate in their social groups and became an active member in the church, including being baptised into the faith.

It was then that God reminded me of my earlier dream from over a decade ago. To open up a soup kitchen. I now have the space for it, it's just a matter of getting this church community to agree.

Recently, the pastor that baptised me has moved on to work elsewhere and we now have a new pastor. I've since raised the subject with both him and his wife re the soup kitchen.

Both of them like the idea, and plan to look into how we can bring this idea into fruition.

Hopefully, and with God's help, by the end of 2022, we'll be on our way to setting up a soup kitchen in our church, supported by the local community, to help the homeless, and those struggling, to come and accept meals from us, and perhaps even allow us to minister the word of God to them.

Dr. Robert Schuller from 'Hour of Power' had a saying. This saying got me through my hardest times and it's between my strong faith and this saying that has not only gotten me through those times, but has strengthened me and now placed me in a position where I am able to help others.

"Tough times NEVER last. But tough PEOPLE do"

- Dr. Robert Schuller (1926-2015)

Story copyright: Carol Nemes aka TigerSpirit 11th February 2022