MOSES LAKE — Spokane Teachers Credit Union had a surprise for a local nonprofit Friday morning.

We usually pick up one to two local nonprofits within our community that we can support their needs,” Branch Manager Kerrie Petersen told representatives from Soup on Saturdays.  “We chose you guys this year … and so we have a check for $5,000 that we would like to donate to you.”

“Oh my gosh, yes,” Soup on Saturdays Secretary Mindi Brimhall said through tears.

Brimhall was at STCU with SOS founder and President Trinette Mullineaux, Treasurer John Killian and Social Media Director Cassandra Wixom to receive a donation, but they had no idea how much it would be, Petersen said.

Soup on Saturdays has been operating for about five and a half years, Mullineaux said, bringing a free meal once a week to Civic Center Park in Moses Lake for anyone who wants it. It started when Mullineax was working at Immanuel Lutheran Church during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, and she and a parishioner were concerned about how the homeless would fare.

“Nothing was open,” she said. “We had been trying to get a soup kitchen started at Immanuel, and there were just all these red flags. And so I talked with ... the health department and they said because of the shutdown, go ahead and cook at home, just individually wrap everything.”

It was just Mullineaux and her friend at the beginning, she said, and as word got around, they found more and more people interested in helping.

Some weeks 40-50 people come out to the park to be fed, Mullineaux said, but other weeks it’s more like 100 people.

“We actually ran out of food a couple of times,” she said.

Despite the name, there’s more than just soup to be had, Mullineaux said.

“We started off just soup, rolls and a dessert,” she said. “And as I grew, I got retired chefs who wanted to help out. And so now we’ve got stuff like chicken divan, all kinds of casseroles, chef salads. I’ve got a baker (who) does the rolls from scratch every Saturday.”

“We had some apples that were donated, and she was able to take those and turn them into an apple crisp,” Brimhall said. “She’s very resourceful.”

Soup on Saturdays sets up at Civic Center Park next to the library because that’s a place homeless people tend to congregate, Brimhall said, especially now that the Open Doors Sleep Center has closed.

“The library refers quite a few people,” she said. “Like, there’s been a mom and two daughters who have come that are temporarily unhoused. The library will refer them to us and tell them that if you need a warm meal, get in touch with us or show up on Saturday.”

Everybody involved in Soup on Saturdays is a volunteer, Mullineaux said. She manages the business side of the operation from her spare bedroom at home, she said. Some food and supplies are stored at her house, some at Brimhall’s, and some at Killian’s, Brimhall said.

“We have a database we keep track of (it with),” she said. Everything that gets donated, we hang on to and use and we know the locations of items that we have.”

Brimhall has three turkeys stored at home, Mullineaux said, in preparation for the Soup on Saturdays Christmas dinner.

The STCU donation is especially welcome because the organization is trying to raise enough money to buy a food trailer, Mullineaux said. They haven’t found one yet, Brimhall said, but they’re looking.

“There are multiple members watching Facebook Marketplace,” she said. “Literally the minute it comes in, we’re in contact with that person and seeing if they’ll negotiate on price or what it needs to get certified, because there are certain requirements you have to (meet).”

The trailers they’ve been looking at range from about $10,000 to $25,000, Mullineaux said. The STCU donation won’t cover it, but it will get them a lot closer.

Spokane Teachers Credit Union has been in Moses Lake for just over a year, Petersen said. The credit union has a policy of supporting local nonprofits. The other cause that the Moses Lake branch selected this year was the Viking Food Pantry at Big Bend Community College, to which they presented a check for $7,500 last week. The Othello branch donated $5,000 to the Othello Food Bank, STCU Communications Strategist Dan Hansen wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald.

“We’re really focusing on food insecurities for this year,” Petersen told the Soup on Saturdays volunteers. “We just want to thank you guys for everything that you are doing in our community.”

STCU’s charitable foundation is called “Here for Good,” Petersen said.

“And they truly mean it,” she said. “(STCU has) been around for 91 years. They don’t want to just show up in communities and then leave. They want to give back to the communities that we serve.”

Soup on Saturdays Fundraiser Bake Sale

Cinnamon rolls, pumpkin rolls, apple, pecan and pumpkin pies and other baked goods.

12-6 p.m. Nov. 25

Moses Lake Presbyterian Church

1142 W. Ivy Ave.

Pies can be pre-ordered at a discount through Nov 23 through the QR codes shown here.

    Soup on Saturdays volunteers set up to serve out meals in October in Moses Lake. That day’s menu included rice and beef casseroles, spaghetti, lasagna, nacho cheese and chips, pizza, vegetables, cookies, cutie oranges and candy.
  

    Sometimes Soup on Saturdays gives away more than just food. Here volunteers offer hygiene packs with socks, toilet paper and hand warmers.
  

    Soup on Saturdays will hold a bake sale Nov. 25 at Moses Lake Presbyterian Church. Pies can be pre-ordered through these QR codes.