As Thanksgiving quickly approaches and people gather for big family meals, Stone Soup Kitchen in Corvallis will be hosting its own celebration for those in need.
All around Corvallis Stone Soup serves community members daily meals, no questions asked about income or current needs. Operating seven days a week, in various community locations around town.
Thanksgiving dinner at Stone Soup is special in the way because on that day the meal is prepared by a cook who has been doing it for about ten years. The Thanksgiving meal is hosted at St. Mary’s church from 1-2 p.m.
“It will be turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pie…it’s a beautiful meal,” said Elizabeth Jones, president of the Stone Soup board.
Stone Soup is the only place in Corvallis hosting a large-scale no cost Thanksgiving meal for all community members. Anyone is welcome and there is an option to either stay and dine in at the church, or take the Thanksgiving meal to go.
Stone Soup has been around since the early 1980s starting first at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Corvallis. Later it added a second meal site in the early 2000s and it grew from there.
“It became a place where you could get a free, hot, full meal seven days a week with no questions asked,” Jones said.
Jones is a retired professor and was recently elected to her position on the Stone Soup board, as well as the lead cook on Thursdays. Before taking on the title of President, she spent her time cooking for Stone Soup for the last three years.
Jones is new in the role but a goal of hers is to increase and strengthen the relationship between Stone Soup and Oregon State University.
“I feel very strongly because I spent so much of my career with college and graduate students that I would love to build a stronger bond with the communities at OSU,” Jones said.
Meals are scheduled at different locations on different days, rotating from St. Mary’s Catholic Church, First Christian Church, and The First Congregational Church of Christ.
The meals that are served rotate from lunch or dinner, and on Saturday they serve brunch at First Christian Church.
“We have a need for volunteers of all different kinds,” Jones said.
Stone Soup welcomes anyone interested in volunteering, especially with food cooking, and prep, as well as serving the meal and greeting the diners, there is no prior experience needed.
“We are very interested in reaching people in younger cohorts,” Jones said.
Jones has a strong interest in reaching out to students and young people in the community to help out.
“One of the things I loved about Saturday morning especially is because that is when we would tend to have the most students,” Jones said. “We are very interested in those who perhaps have social media skills and who would be interested in helping us out.”
Stone Soup serves community members on Thanksgiving but also calls for volunteers year-round.
While Stone Soup gets more diners during Thanksgiving, they also find themselves getting more volunteer offers.
“We tend to get these little bursts around the holidays… but we are also hoping to recruit students and others who are interested in helping us out maybe more than once,” Jones said.
Meal schedules and volunteer information can be found on the Stone Soup website. You can also find more information on volunteering by emailing [email protected].
