The window just opened at 5:30 p.m. Center, Sheldon Rucinski of Beach Park, grabs meals to deliver to people waiting at a window on right at the Most Blessed Trinity Parish Soup Kitchen at 914 8th St. in Waukegan on Dec. 28, 2022. On left is volunteer Luke Reynolds, 15, of Wadsworth and a sophomore at Carmel Catholic High School of Mundelein. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
It has been nearly four decades since Most Blessed Trinity Parish’s Soup Kitchen in Waukegan began serving Lake County and Wisconsin people in need of a nutritious meal.
The soup kitchen launched on Dec. 13, 1984.
Four evenings a week, volunteers rotate days, arriving several hours before the 5:30 p.m. meal service time to complete prep work at the soup kitchen at 914 8th St.
Volunteers also share supper and fellowship one hour before serving.
“For most of us, celebrating Christmas and the New Year means gathering for bountiful meals with family and friends. However, we know many experience food insecurity not only during the holidays but every day,” Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, said in an email.
“December marked the 38th year of Most Blessed Trinity Parish’s soup kitchen serving its community and responding to the first corporal act of mercy; ‘Feed the Hungry,’” he said. “In 2022 alone, the parish served 23,000 meals to its neighbors, a 5% increase over 2021.
“May each of us heed the Gospel call and respond to our neighbors in need with the same urgency and care as Most Blessed Trinity Parish,” Cupich added.
A soup kitchen client collects meals at the pass-through window of the Most Blessed Trinity Parish Soup Kitchen at 914 8th St. in Waukegan on Dec. 28, 2022. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
Most Blessed’s soup kitchen is open for one hour on four consecutive days starting each Wednesday. If service days fall on holidays or occasions like Christmas Eve, the kitchen remains open. About 150 meals are prepared each day.
“It’s a mission,” said soup kitchen coordinator Frances “Pancha” Gonzalez, a 43-year resident of Waukegan. “We want to feed everyone that wants it.”
There is need, “everywhere you look,” volunteer Sheldon Rucinski of Beach Park said.
“We have a guy that comes from Kenosha (Wisconsin), actually, and if we have extra meals at the end of the night, he’ll take them because he knows where homeless people are staying up in Kenosha, so he takes it up to them,” he said.
“It’s super-nice,” Rucinski said. “He doesn’t always show up, but when he does, we try to load him up if we can, if we have any extra food.”
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the soup kitchen, which has an indoor dining area, has remained carryout only, and will remain so for safety reasons into 2023.
“The dining room is very small,” Gonzalez said, indicating the indoor space is too tight to safely accommodate diners and volunteers in a pandemic, especially with the current spike in COVID cases.
“But I’m just glad for what we can do,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a godsend.”
A car passes by as people wait for meals to go, as well as clothing, at the Most Blessed Trinity Parish Soup Kitchen at 914 8th St. in Waukegan on Dec. 28, 2022. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
On Wednesday, people lined up outside a window which doubles as a pass-through from the basement. There, volunteers have close access to a commercial-sized kitchen.
“The window’s open, as we call it,” Gonzalez said.
Rucinski staffed the window, distributing bagged meals — which included pulled pork, potatoes and green beans — to recipients.
For 2023, “People are going to still be in a little bit of struggle because inflation is still going strong,” said the Rev. Timothy O’Malley, pastor at Most Blessed Trinity Parish. “There is still going to be need.”
Michael Klatt, deacon at Most Blessed Trinity Parish, said, “Christmas Eve, I saw a gentleman that was still telling me that he camps out and uses propane to warm himself. Some of them tell me they don’t have housing.
“In cold and extreme weather … it’s a life-threatening situation” Klatt added.
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church of Wadsworth is among the regular volunteer groups.
What does the word “Inspire” mean to soup kitchen volunteer Lana Koch of Lindenhurst? Koch is wearing the blue t-shirt with words on the back. “I’m inspired when I come here,” Koch said. “I love to cook, I love to bake, I love feeding people, and I believe God wants me to be here. He brought me here.” Koch is at the Most Blessed Trinity Parish Soup Kitchen at 914 8th St. in Waukegan on Dec. 28, 2022. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
That Wednesday, volunteer Joan Zupec of Wadsworth offered donated clothing at an open soup kitchen door near the carryout window.
“The rest of us have so many things, and we ought to be sharing that with people that don’t have,” she said.
Recently, Zupec said she saw, “a woman and two children … no coats and it was very cold out there. Sometimes, I see them without shoes.”
Zupec’s daughter Lynn DuShane of Racine, Wisconsin, and Zupec’s grandson Luke Reynolds, 15, of Wadsworth, a Carmel Catholic High School of Mundelein sophomore, also volunteered.
“I drove an hour one way to get here, every Wednesday,” said DuShane, who enjoys the volunteer shift with her mother.
Zupec’s grandson said, “You get to see people at the window, being grateful for the food that they’re getting. It’s nice to know that you’re doing something good for somebody who’s not as fortunate as you are.”
Tony Roemer of Gurnee, also part of the St. Pat’s group, is a retired utility company technician who wants, “to be able to help other people, giving back to the community.”
Volunteer Lana Koch of Lindenhurst wore a blue T-shirt with the word “Inspire” on the back.
“I’m inspired when I come here,” Koch said. “I love to cook. I love to bake. I love feeding people, and I believe God wants me to be here. He brought me here.”
Donations can be made by calling the soup kitchen at 847-775-0116. For monetary donations, visit https://www.givecentral.org/location/173/event/7956. For the church’s Wednesday morning weekly food pantry, call 847-623-2112.
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