On the white board inside the Cherished Ones Ministries soup kitchen at Second and Indiana in Coeur d'Alene is the menu for a Saturday night dinner.

It lists spaghetti, salad, soup, vegetables. And next to it is a Bible verse, 1 Peter 4:8, which says, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

And when you enter the doors, there's a sign that reads, "Welcome to God's kitchen." Under that is a Bible, open to the book of Matthew. Not far away are the Ten Commandments. Throughout the spacious but very basic dining area are plaques and pictures with biblical messages and pictures of Christ. Painted on the far back wall is a large cross, a rising sun in the background.

Kevin Kram, director of the ministry, says the free meals are wonderful and he's happy to serve them. But there's more at stake.

"Everybody has ministry in their heart," he says. "Everybody has compassion. What our job is as an agency, we need to make it so other people can raise up in their call. That's a joy to me."

Kram and about 10 others answered their call when they started the nonprofit nine years ago to provide meals to the hungry. The mission hasn't changed, but has expanded, as they today provide some medical care from their site and are working on a warehouse as a distribution point combined with several other agencies.

It's bounced around over the years, and today is settled not far from downtown Coeur d'Alene.

"We never missed a meal," Kram said.

Turning the old Monster Muscle building into a soup kitchen took lots of good, old-fashioned blood, sweat and tears.

"There was a lot of work from people within the ministry," he said.

Kram spends about 15-20 hours a week volunteering to lead Cherished Ones. He does it because he has a heart to help the homeless, the poor, the needy. He's faced his own battles, his own demons. He knows people can use a hand to turn their lives around.

There's no pay involved. Not for Kram or anyone on staff.

"Every nickel that comes into this place is to keep it running, to buy food, to help people."

Kram, owner of Kevin Kram Construction and Excavation, doesn't like to talk about himself. He doesn't like to talk about surviving days of drugs and alcohol and violence. He prefers to direct credit to God, to his staff, to his wife.

"There's people more dedicated than I am behind the scenes," he says.

He and his wife Dannette will celebrate their 30th anniversary next year. No thanks to himself, Kram says with a laugh.

"A lot of where I come from is due to her encouragement and wisdom," he says. "Without her, I'd be nothing."

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Why devote so much time to Cherished Ones Ministries when you're not even getting paid?

Not in real dollars. The reason it's important is with what little I do, what we put into this, what comes out of it is so much more. We served almost 10,000 meals last year, and the year before we served more than 10,000 meals. The year before, almost 9,000 meals. Probably 60 percent of the people who eat here would not eat if they didn't have a soup kitchen.

We have soup kitchens that help people every day of the week in this county. The important thing is what little I put into it, the benefits to the community are almost immeasurable.

Have you ever tried to step aside and focus on your business?

No. Well, actually one time I did try to get out of it. It didn't work very well. I couldn't take it. I wanted to step down and do some other things. It didn't work. My wife and I talked. We couldn't step away.

Couldn't other agencies fill the gap?

Most everybody that does this type of work, whether it's soup kitchens, whether it's Fresh Start, whether it's St. Vincent's, whether it's the churches, we all kind of dovetail into what each other does. There's things that we do that nobody else does. There's things they do that we don't do. And so we try to do our part and support other ministries.

You share your faith here quite openly. Why?

We're not shy. I'm not one to stand around and say, 'I don't want to offend them.' I don't soapbox it. What all of us try to do is see what the Lord's doing, and work with that. I'm not trying to push the Gospel on somebody. What happens is, we enter into relationship with these people. It's how can we help you? How can we minister to you? That's how we share our faith. It's not come inside and get thumped in the head with Scriptures. But Scriptures will change your life.

How has your faith influenced your own life?

I came from an inner city school in San Francisco and I learned a lot of stuff fast. I went through elementary school in the '60s and junior high school in the '70s. There were a lot of drugs, a lot of stuff down there. I was paring back from a lot of that stuff when I was turning 21 or 22, from all the dope and alcohol, all the running hard and violence, all that stuff.

There's quite a history behind where I've been delivered from through my life there's been so much tragedy and turmoil. I look at what I've been through, the good things and the bad things that I've done, highlights and lowlights of my life, without the hand of God on my shoulder, without the Lord in my heart, I don't know I would have made it.

I lost a son when he was 22. I've got a son doing 67 years in prison. My wife got diagnosed with cancer last August and they took it out in October. A whole number of things that are big. We've been married almost 30 years. That's a testimony to what God can do if people will seek him.

How do you find time between work and ministry?

The balance is the hardest part. At home, my house looks like a wreck. I fix everybody else's up beautiful. It is demanding. I spend more time away from home than I should. That's hard. The nice part about what I do now is that I'm able to adjust my schedule somewhat.

Do you ever think you'll say, 'I've done enough' and move on?

I don't see it. I don't think you can ever do enough. You have to make sure you have balance because you'll burn out real easy. That's where I'm real thankful for my staff. They're every boisterous. They're not shy. They're not wimpy. They'll ask me if things are OK.

At the end of the day, do you feel pretty good about your efforts with Cherished Ones Ministries?

What really brings me great joy in this, people are served. I believe we're doing what we're supposed to be doing as far as helping our neighbors and our community.

The other side of it is too, the people who are serving here, they do it because they want to. It's not a calculated thing. You can see the passion in people. Some of my main volunteers, they started out peeking out, not sure what to do. Now, anyone of them can run the outfit. That's the joy it brings to me is seeing other people raised up and encouraged.

How do you stay positive when there's so much negative everywhere?

I am just a regular person who has ups and downs in life. I'm not perfect. I screw up regularly. I do a good job with some things, then I don't do a good job.

But if we will take the tragedies and the struggles and crap of our lives, are we going to walk in bitterness and frustration or are we going to change that and say, 'This is where I come from.' It's probably relatively light compared to somebody else. Let's turn that into compassion that can drive a whole lot of help for me, our community, the world. If we walk in bitterness, it poisons us and our community. If we walk in compassion, it helps everybody.

SNAPSHOT

Kevin Kram

Date of birth: April 8, 1958

Education: Earned GED at age 50

Family: Wife, Dannette, four kids.

Number of hours on average you work in a week: 60

Number of hours on average you sleep in a night: 6

Hobbies: Welding, steel art, writing.

Favorite movie: "Princess Bride"

Favorite book: The Bible

Favorite author: Louis L'Amour

Favorite type of music: Blues

Favorite spectator sport: Car racing

Quality you admire most in a person: Integrity

One person who most influenced your life: Jesus Christ

One thing you consider your greatest accomplishment: Making it out of my life before I got married, making it out of where I came from, making it out alive.

Best advice you ever received: Take from each man, but leave each man his own.