MOSES LAKE — Trinette Mullineaux said she’s seen some hard times herself, so she wanted to do something to help the people that use the Open Doors Sleep Center in Moses Lake. That’s why she started her volunteer project Soup on Saturdays.

“It’s near and dear to my heart to help the homeless,” she said.

And as far as she’s concerned it’s a way to live her Christian faith.

“I feel like this is actually God’s ministry. I’m just his hands and his feet,” she said.

Every Saturday Mullineaux or her volunteer chefs use the kitchen at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church to cook a big pot of soup; they add some rolls and dessert, and deliver the meal to the sleep center. Mullineaux and her volunteers have been making and delivering soup nearly every Saturday for about three years.

“We started during COVID,” she said. “I found out that the soup kitchen at (Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church) had been shut down because of COVID. And I knew that places that were serving the homeless, as far as food, were shut down.”

So Mullineaux and her friend Shawlene Martin began cooking out of their own kitchens, with the help of the Grant County Health District.

“When we first started we were cooking for 15 to 20 people. And then the numbers increased over the months, and it went up to 25,” she said. “Now we cook for 35. I know this last winter, they had an average of 40 over the winter months.”

As the coronavirus pandemic eased they shifted their operation to St. Martin’s, which had a kitchen that complied with the regulations. The volunteer crew now includes six chefs, seven in the winter, Mullineaux’s mom Lydia and a few other helpers, including her friend Asher Schober, eight years old.

The menu is … well, it depends. Last Saturday’s soup was ham and lentils because Mullineaux had received donations of ham and lentils.

“Basically our menus are what we get donated. I’ve done a ham and 15-bean soup in the past,” she said. “We do minestrone; we’ve done chicken noodle. My volunteer chef last weekend, she did spaghetti. Whatever volunteer chef I have on the schedule, I leave the menu to them.”

“I always let my chefs know what food is in the kitchen when it comes their turn, so they can decide what they want,” she said.

Some Soup on Saturday volunteers attend local churches, others don’t.

“It’s a common goal to help somebody else that needs help,” she said.

Soup on Saturdays accepts donations of food or money, along with disposable soup bowls and utensils. Donations can be made through the St Martin’s account on the Tithe.ly website, or on the Soup on Saturdays wishlist at Amazon. People can donate money through the church; donations should be marked for Soup on Saturdays.

People helped her through her hard times, Mullineaux said, and it’s important to her to pass that help along to others.

“I found my calling three years ago doing the soup kitchen,” she said. “God says that if you see someone hungry, feed them. If you see somebody that needs clothing, clothe them; if you see somebody who needs shelter, shelter them. I do my best to be compassionate to the homeless population, whether they’re mentally ill, whether they’re drug addicts, it doesn’t matter because everybody’s story is different. And I think they all deserve a second chance.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached at [email protected].

Soup on Saturdays

Facebook.com/SouponSaturdays?locale=ms_MY

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