COEUR d'ALENE - As Jason Parker stood on the corner of Indiana Avenue and Second Street, he recalled how he was introduced to Cherished Ones Ministries 11 years ago.

He took a drag off a rolled cigarette as he spoke. His gray hair was a stark contrast to his kind, dark eyes, eyes that have no doubt seen the best and the worst of humanity.

"I'm blessed to be involved in this ministry," said Parker, 60, of Coeur d'Alene. "For some reason, they've adopted me."

Parker first met the director of Cherished Ones Ministries, Inc., when he was working for Labor Ready. Volunteers from the Cherished Ones soup kitchen often brought free lunches to the workers.

"They assumed, probably rightly, that those people working there didn't really have a home. I was living in a tent myself," he said. "Kevin (Kram), who's the director, brought a bunch of lumber slabs for me to burn at my fire and I just fell in love with him and I've been coming down ever since."

Parker now has a permanent dwelling, but every Saturday he plays guitar while Cherished Ones Ministries volunteers serve the evening meal. He said he enjoys playing for his supper.

"I'm not even really hurting, I just kind of come down out of habit anymore," he said, his eyes smiling as he laughed.

Parker's is one of countless stories embedded in the fabric of the Cherished Ones Ministries soup kitchen, which opens around 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and serves dinner at 5 p.m. The soup kitchen serves an average of 125 people every Saturday, and not just the kind of people the words "soup kitchen" might make you think.

"We have your daughters, your sons, we have your grandmothers, your moms, your dads, your nieces, your nephews, some of your baby children, your great-grandkids, we have them coming to our soup kitchen," said Kram, who helped start the kitchen in 2000. "We do have a lot of people who are flat-out working poor."

Those who come to warm their hands, hearts and bellies in the Cherished Ones Ministries soup kitchen are veterans, best friends, musicians, athletes, animal lovers, living with disabilities, barely making it, hungry or downright tired of the hands they've been dealt.

Others might just be lonely and need a friend.

"I know some people think, 'Well, you shouldn't go unless you're homeless' or, 'Isn't that just for people that are really in need?'" said North Idaho College student Amy Alton, 56, of Hayden. "It is, but it's for people too sometimes that might be alone, so I think rather than thinking, 'Well that's just a place for certain types of people,' maybe have more of an open mind. There are a lot of different needs of people. Some people might come here because they're lonely and hungry, or maybe just need a warm place to come in and socialize."

Most Saturdays, seniors top the number of those served.

Bobbie Taylor, 58, of Coeur d'Alene, lives on a fixed social security income and often depends on local soup kitchens when her meager income is not enough.

"What nights they don't have soup kitchens, we're able to cook at home, but it's not often," she said. "A lot of people would go hungry if they didn't have this place."

While working to create a safe, family environment filled with prayer and understanding, Kram is always looking out for his patrons and volunteers. He recognizes that the soup kitchen is not without its and trials and tribulations. On April 22, two drunk and disorderly individuals harassed a volunteer and smashed a front window, causing $250 in damages. That's big for a nonprofit with a budget of just more than $2,000 a month to cover rent, insurance, utility fees and other expenses. Kram said it's only about 12 percent of the patron population that causes any trouble, and that sort of misbehavior raises his hackles.

"We try to guide them outside of that," he said. "We do not have the attitude that, 'My little Johnny can do no wrong,' but I know who the problem children are. I've had toe-to-toes, I've had damn-near blows with some of these guys because they are problem children and I don't let them get away with it."

Samantha "Little Wolf" Threewinds, 20, of Coeur d'Alene, has been going to the soup kitchen about four months.

"I'm not making ends meet, my rent just got raised to $1,200 and I only make $800," she said. "I'm glad something like this is around when you can't feed yourself ... the only reason I'm getting any income is because I'm working my butt off. It's hard."

Threewinds said she has had nothing but positive experiences since becoming a Cherished Ones patron. She likened it to Switzerland, where people don't have to worry about conflict or being judged because it's "neutral ground."

"They serve you food and they always have a smile on their face," she said. "People who come here are like family. They treat us like we're somebody."