Counting TraysThe way to dry off plastic serving trays at the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen is simple. You stack them when they come out of the dish washer, face down, alternating which way they’re facing. You make a column of twenty trays, and then start the next column. Looking at columns of twenty trays is an easy way to estimate how many meals were served. When I get ready to leave, the trays are almost all stacked. There are always some trays on the bin in the dining room, in the washer or
dripping off excess water. I usually make the rounds to get a final tally. For February 1, when there was lake-effect snow blowing in off Lake Michigan, we ended up serving 61 meals. For March 1, when the weather was somewhat better but still bitterly wintery, we served 66. Each tray represents a human being, it represents someone in need. Someone who made it to the Soup Kitchen and chose not to stay at home. The trays, which are so easy to count and forget about, represent why the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen does its job and stays open despite lake effect blizzards. I know that we’ll be seeing many of those same faces again.
And possibly the next time we’ll be serving and washing twice as many trays. It’s happened before and will happen again. For more information about the Soup Kitchen and to volunteer, contact Daniel Drazen at 269.473.3816 by Daniel Drazen, Soup Kitchen Volunteer Coordinator
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