In the small town of Ottumwa, IA, with a population of 24,840 people, the definition of a ‘hero’ differs from what children are taught in stories. Heroes are not masked men and women who can fly or who have x-ray vision; they are normal people like you or I who can do amazing things with only their God-given abilities. Although Sheri and Gary, the owners of the Blessings Soup Kitchen, may seem superhuman because of everything they have accomplished in such a short amount of time, they will tell you adamantly they are regular human beings doing the Lord’s work in a town most have abandoned.
In a conversation with my grandma, Dolores, Sheri explained that the motivation to being running a soup kitchen came to her in a dream, which she immediately opened up to about with her neighbor, Gary. She said in this dream she saw empty buildings for rent, and could actually taste the food they would serve in the future. This was enough of a sign for the two to go through with the vision. In January of 2014, Gary and Sheri began building the only soup kitchen in Ottumwa, a place where homeless and/or impoverished people can come in for a free hot meal.
When I first met Gary behind the Blessings Soup Kitchen during our family reunion, I began asking simple conversational questions, “How are you?”, “What do you do here?”, things like that, but as we went more into depth about what they were doing, I couldn’t turn away. Gary explained to me that the Salvation Army and other homeless shelters/soup kitchens had given up on this part of town, and that there were no other places these Iowans could turn to in their time of need.
Of course, I like to keep a blog with all facts, and with a broad statement like that, I had to do some checking. Amazingly, it is true. In fact, if you type in “Ottumwa Soup Kitchens,” only results for the Blessings Soup Kitchen and two other food banks will show up.
This is very shocking when compared to the five soup kitchens in Omaha, NE, where my family is from. As far as I could find, there are 35 homeless shelters in Iowa; and yet, not one is found in Ottumwa.
Every day except Saturday, Gary and Sheri open up shop at 11 o’clock, and people begin flooding inside. What was most amazing to me was that the food they serve is actually good food. I’ve always seen homeless people receiving the scraps that the fortunate did not want, until I went to this establishment. Here are some pictures of the delicious food they make for these people.
Behind the Blessings Soup Kitchen is a building used for storage at the moment that will soon be an internet cafe. My cousin and I went exploring around the building, and I noticed how well it would do as a homeless shelter. I asked Gary why they won’t turn it into a shelter, and he explained that they needed a bunch of permits, that were not available to them. It was very disappointing to see how much these people do to help others, and how hard the government pushes back to stop them.
If you would like to get involved with these wonderful people, and continue their efforts, there’s a lot you can do! First of all, they have a Facebook page with all of their information on it. It is a group, so you’ll have to ask to join and wait til they accept you. Once they have accepted you, their address for donation is available. If you do not have a Facebook, here is the address: “Blessings Soup Kitchen” 228 East Main Ottumwa, Iowa 52501
If you live in Ottumwa, volunteer! They need all the help they can get, and they accept everyone. While Gary and Sheri are motivated by God, they have both told me that the Blessings Soup Kitchen is a nondenominational restaurant, so there is no fear for those who may have different beliefs. They accept everyone, which makes this ten times better in my eyes, and I’m sure in yours as well.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1426019074306510/
All the money goes to lighting, heating, insurance, food, etc. Gary and Sheri explained that they receive no money from this organization, they put it all back into the soup kitchen. Thank you for reading this article about these amazing people, and please, support them and your local shelters/soup kitchens!
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