Soup kitchen holds community breakfast, seeks donations

LAKE CITY — Samuel Burgess has run the Care and Concern Organization Soup Kitchen for nearly five years and knows firsthand how many people in Lake City are in need of a hot meal.

Each month, he said, the soup kitchen serves 900 to 1,100 meals at the cost of about $1,600.

In an effort to continue providing food and drink to those who need it, the organization held its third community breakfast on Saturday. The goal was to raise awareness of the kitchen and seek donations to keep it running.

“This is a great day,” Burgess said. “This is a day like the soup kitchen has never really had before.”

He also stressed how important it is to have local government leaders’ support. Public officials from Lake City who attended the breakfast included Mayor Lovith Anderson Jr., councilmen Russ Martin and Billy Brown, and City Administrator Marion Lowder, as well as Florence County Council Chairman K.G. “Rusty” Smith.

The organization also recognized its kitchen staff and volunteers for their work.

Volunteer Carolyn McClary said she is able to give an hour a day, during her lunch break from work, to help the soup kitchen.

“When you come to the soup kitchen, (the staff members) don’t ask anything,” she told members of Saturday’s crowd. “The only thing they ask is what you want to drink.”

She also brings her 15-year-old daughter, Tameka McCullough, who also brought 14-year-old Nekethia Casey as a first-time volunteer on Saturday. Casey hopes to return to help in the future, she said.

Burgess’ son, Samuel Burgess Jr. of Columbia, is an assistant with Care and Concern Organization. He encouraged people also to give food and drink such as chicken, rice, string beans, corn, sugar, lemonade or sweet tea.

Samuel Burgess Jr. said anyone could need the soup kitchen’s services at some point, even if only for a tough financial situation that lasts merely a day.

The soup kitchen opened in February 2005, but Care and Concern Organization began in 1992 as an organization to provide activities for children and youths, which is something it continues to do, said Alice Burgess, Samuel Burgess’ wife and assistant within the organization.

The activities have included pageants, basketball games and a trip to Walt Disney World one year, she said.

The soup kitchen is open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Samuel Burgess said. Originally, it had the same hours, but was open Monday through Friday, a schedule to which he hopes to return, he said.

The kitchen sees its biggest crowds during the summer, when children are on break from school, he said. It also needs equipment such as computers, tables and a hot bar as a dependable way to keep the food warm, he said.

In addition to being CEO of Care and Concern Organization, Samuel Burgess is also the pastor of Greater St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church. The church is housed temporarily at the soup kitchen during renovations to the original location, on Moore Street Extension in Lake City, he said.

CARE AND CONCERN ORGANIZATION

Care and Concern Organization Soup Kitchen, at 800 E. Main St. in Lake City, is open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The soup kitchen is asking for monetary donations; checks should be made payable to Care and Concern Organization Soup Kitchen and may be mailed to the organization at P.O. Box 373, Lake City, SC 29560.

For more information, call (843) 558-3267 or e-mail .