Published: December 01, 2008 09:40 pm            

SOUP KITCHEN: Patrons come for food and fellowship

Fred Budd comes to the Sister Mary Loretto Memorial Soup Kitchen five days a week for lunch.

Budd recently moved back to Lockport after living for some time in Niagara Falls. He had to leave when the owner of the building he was living in moved to a nursing home. Budd said he was thankful for a place like the soup kitchen.

“I was living here before in Lockport,” Budd said. “I just didn’t have enough to eat.”

One of the things Budd likes to do is bowl. He participates in a free bowling league on weeknights.

“I did pretty good,” Budd said of his last game. “Some strikes, some spares. We won all three (games).”

Kenneth Seal said he also comes five days a week to the kitchen. Seal’s an original; he’s been coming since he retired in 1983, a year before the kitchen was moved to its current location at the Salvation Army.

Giving people like Budd and Seal a warm meal is how the kitchen began. The Sister Mary Loretto Memorial Soup Kitchen started off in a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. Sister Loretto began the kitchen just to help people but moved it in 1984 to the Salvation Army building on Cottage Street in Lockport. The Salvation Army had just built an addition that was supposed to be used for banquets. Instead, the Army was more than thankful to take the soup kitchen in.

Of course it’s not just the food that draws some of the kitchen’s patrons. Both Budd and Seal said it’s the people who are there, both volunteers who are working and other folks who are there for a meal. Seal said some ask him where he’s been when he misses a day.

“I enjoy talking with the people here,” he said.

The Sister Mary Loretto Memorial Soup Kitchen fundraising drive is now under way, and the kitchen is asking people to donate. Donations may be sent by clipping the coupon on the front page of the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, which appears each day, Monday through Saturday. Donations can be made in honor or memory of a loved one, and the donor’s name, the amount of the donation and the sentiments of the donor will be published. Donors also can remain anonymous.

The donations, along with the completed coupons, can be dropped off at any First Niagara Bank or can be mailed to First Niagara Bank, 55 East Ave., Lockport, NY 14094.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.

        

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