With Shelbyville Community Soup Kitchen a vibrant, essential and ever-changing non-profit organization, pinning down current events is a tall order. Since its inception in 2016, soup kitchen has undertaken operations in three different locations—the First United Methodist Church, the old Save-a-Lot on Cannon Boulevard, and now at 336 South Cannon Boulevard. It has moved from being a once-weekly feeding endeavor to a four-times weekly, plus the first Sunday of each month mission. Day-to-day operations are coordinated and overseen by a General Manager and small part-time staff, plus a multitude of community volunteers of all ages, genders, races, and faiths. The basic goal of soup kitchen is to recognize and provide a loving Christian outreach to marginalized, at-risk and unsheltered individuals in our community through offering a safe, loving, non-judgement environment in which to enjoy a meal. The ministry certainly has grown to include so much more than just a meal, however, thus signified by a more current slogan—"More Than Soup.”
Volunteers from all walks of life within our community come together to provide meals, endless bottled water, toiletries, socks, tents, propane, non-perishable food items for homeless to-go bags, clothing items, shoes, Christmas toys, handmade sleeping mats, blankets, can openers and any number of other needed items. Our volunteers truly serve as the hands and feet of Christ, as they bring dignity, joy, kindness and acceptance to those who often enter our doors feeling defeated and downtrodden. Volunteers, prayerfully, physically and financially, are the grass roots of what enables soup kitchen to help families who struggle with the uncertainty of where their next meal will come from or where they will find to rest for the night. We strive to love our neighbors as ourselves and give in whatever ways we can. Together, we will continue to be a community that proves its generosity and compassion to those who need it most.
As of August 2024, our hours of service are:
Mondays and Fridays 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon
Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30 p.m.- 4:00 p.m.
First Sunday of each month 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.