Soup Hour

The St. Matthias Soup Hour

The St. Matthias Soup Hour started in 1983 as a response to seeing hungry people in the Uptown area of Whittier. But this program was not the first such effort by St. Matthias. There are newspaper articles from early in the 1900’s describing people from St. Matthias taking food to the railroad tracks to serve to the hobos coming through town on cross country trains. We take our heritage as a place that helps the least fortunate as a gift from God, a gift we hope to continue to faithfully fulfill in the future.

Dozens served daily

Every weekday from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM we serve a hot meal to anyone who wishes to eat. Some guests are long time residents of the streets. Some are only recently homeless. Others live in nearby low income housing. There are also families, elders, and people who have jobs but do not make enough money to feed themselves the entire month. So at the end of the month we have more guests, but overall we average around 60 people served a day, through the work of about eight volunteers per day.

More than just a meal

St. Matthias also provides a place for people to receive mail, distributes hygiene kits and clothing, and makes referrals to other sources of help. We are often the introduction to a person of how to get help when they find themselves where they never thought they would be, or have tired of being so low.

But even if all a person ever wants is to eat, we do our best to live out our Christian ideal of respecting the dignity of every human being. So we learn people’s names, their stories, and share in their laughter, their tears, their lives. Sometimes we are the only people in a guest’s day to acknowledge their existence, let alone be happy to see them.

An effort of volunteers

St. Matthias believes that not only do our guests have dignity, so does everyone else. Therefore we are pleased that this work depends on lots of volunteers, who do everything from cook to serve to clean, with each task being full of a spirit of welcome and hospitality. While there is paid staff involvement, each day has a different collaborative team of volunteers, meaning we have around forty different volunteers give part of their afternoons each week.

Other volunteer tasks include soliciting, collecting, and organizing food donations, sorting and distributing mail, assembling and passing out hygiene kits, and helping guests find further help through other organizations. Most of all, each volunteer is a person who gives to our guests a connection to the rest of the human family, and therefore helps heal our society to the benefit of us all.

While we have received two private foundation grants, we depend extensively on donations of money, food, clothing and toiletries. Can by can, dollar by dollar, this effort happens through countless gifts.

There is always room for more

We always can serve another person. If you or someone you know is hungry, or if you come across someone in Whittier who needs a meal, send them to St. Matthias for a hot meal every weekday from 3:00 PM until 4:00 PM. Note these hours allow children to eat without missing school.

We always can use more help. If you want to see how caring about people, particularly those who are a bit different, even a bit scary, can change yourself , them, and the world, then come try volunteering at the St. Matthias Soup Hour.

We can always use new ideas. We often start new ways of helping because of an idea someone new shared. We would love to start an art program, for instance. But maybe you have something completely different in mind-come tell us about it.