The Orthodox Church Soup Kitchen

His Beatitude, Archbishop Anastasios, speaks to the
people during one of the lunches at the Soup Kitchen
 

The building that houses the Soup Kitchen was formerly used as a technical school by the Orthodox Church.  When this school moved to a new facility, his Beatitude designated this building as the Soup Kitchen.  On January 11th, 2005, the first meal of the Soup Kitchen was served.  His Beatitude christened the Soup Kitchen "Shoqëria e Dashurisë", or the "Brotherhood of Love".

There are some important guiding principles that are used in the operation of the Soup Kitchen.  First and foremost is to provide a clean, comfortable environment for the people and to serve them a hot, nutritious meal.  The goal is to not just feed people and send them on their way, but to provide a place where they feel safe and they feel the love of Christ.  Everyone working at the kitchen is committed to treating people with respect and love, while being ever mindful of their dignity.  There are also plans to provide a bible study for the people who eat at the Soup Kitchen who are interested in learning about the Orthodox faith.

The number of people served has risen constantly during the first months of operation.  From the first day of serving 22 people, the number has grown to sometimes 100 meals.  "Shoqëria e Dashurisë" relies heavily on the knowledge of the Orthodox Women's Group to help us determine who should be served.   Because of this increase, the second dining room was added on the upper floor of the building.

The criteria for serving people is entirely based on need.  The staff asks no questions about politics or faith, but tries only to determine need.    A system of vouchers is used to regulate the  number of people that come to any given meal.  The staff also makes home visits, with the ladies of the Women's Group, to ensure that we only the very needy are being served.

The kitchen serves three days a week:  Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 11:30 am.  The sixty vouchers handed out for each meal completely fill both dining rooms.  After everyone has been seated, a priest leads the Lord's Prayer and the lunch is served.  After the meal is finished and some people begin to leave, the staff brings in the people who have been waiting outside.   They             are          served the food that is left and the staff talks to them to ascertain their need,  and to possibly arrange a home visit.

"Shoqëria e Dashurisë" is being lead by the American orthodox missionary couple George & Pauline Russell and by the great support of the Orthodox women's Group.  The kitchen is blessed with many people whose effort and hard work makes the whole operation possible.  It starts with the two full time cooks, and continues with the volunteer help from the Orthodox Women's Group.  At least two ladies from this group work every lunch to serve the meals, and to help with the clean up afterward.  They are tireless workers and have a very loving and understanding way with the people they are serving.  Everyone on the staff understands their job and does it well.  So far, thank God, this team has worked together beautifully.

Through the commitment of the Archbishop and through hard work, faith, and God’s grace, the Soup Kitchen has become a reality.  The simple truth is that there are many hungry people in Albania.  We pray that our efforts together will alleviate some of this suffering and help to show the people here the light of love.

Email us to make a donation to the Soup Kitchen