Food plentiful at local soup kitchen on Thanksgiving

“We try to support the families that don’t have the means to feed a family,” said Robert Blau, of the Long Beach Food and Friendship Inn’s Thanksgiving Day feast.

On Nov. 24, the Long Beach Food and Friendship Inn — with help from the city’s Farmers Market and students from the NIKE Alternative High School — provided Thanksgiving meals for those residents in the community who are less fortunate.

“And they’re all appreciative, no one’s disappointed,” said Blau, a volunteer at the kitchen, of those who attended. “We try to supply them with a nutritious meal. We make the best of what we have.”

About 25 residents turned out for this year’s Thanksgiving feast at the organization’s soup kitchen, at 140 W. Pine St. There, many received a hot meal that included turkey, stuffing, potatoes, greens, pies, and more.

On an average day at noon, between 25 and 35 residents visit the soup kitchen, which offers residents a hot lunch five times a week along with a bag with sandwiches, fruit, and canned and fresh food for a second meal to those in need.

And though Blau said the kitchen has operated for more than 20 years, it has shifted to different locations. The current kitchen, he said, has been situated at West Pine Street for close to 10 years.

Originally, he explained, the soup kitchen was closed on holidays. “When I started — I’ve been doing this for two years now — I was curious as to why we weren’t open for holidays,” he recalled. “Now, the last two years, we have served Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter lunches.”

The challenge, though, is that those who volunteer, who help put meals together every weekday, cook these meals at home.

“We don’t have a stove,” Blau said. “We’re cooking out of electric skillets, microwaves.”

Despite the inconvenience, though, the kitchen has managed to feed the mouths of many, and has received food donations from local restaurants and stores throughout the community.

Bernadette Martin, who runs the Farmers Market in Kennedy Plaza for three seasons out of the year, has continued to offer her support to the kitchen.

“They’re wonderful,” she said. “Sometimes [Rob] picks things up at my house,” she explained, noting she donates produce from her personal garden. “I would like to grow designated crops with these guys right here in town.”

The Monday before Thanksgiving — Nov. 21 — she joined students from the NIKE Alternative High School to bring produce to the Food and Friendship Inn.

“We’ve been working together with the soup kitchen since 2009,” Martin said of the students. Martin explained that the school, located in Lido Beach, has it’s own garden, and that students have also been selling their produce at the Farmers Market as part of a high school internship program, which she leads.

“We had a school bus Monday and drove in with seven kids to the soup kitchen. We donated water, potatoes, fresh salad,” she said, citing other items, including kale, arugala, collard greens, bread, herbs and more, that were donated.

“They do all the planting and gardening themselves,” Martin said of the students.“We’re giving people an opportunity to eat high quality fruits, vegetables, and breads.”

Blau said the goal moving forward is to create a greater awareness of the soup kitchen in the community, and said he remains grateful for the continued support and generosity the establishment has received to date.

“I don’t think we’re known in the community. It’s been a struggle,” he said, noting, however, that there continues to be a fair turnout for food services.

“Would I like to see more people here? No, because that means more are homeless,” he said. “But this is a great thing for the community, to let residents know we’re here.”

For more information about the kitchen, please call (516) 678-4668.