Iowa soup kitchen creates charity closet with essentials
An Iowa soup kitchen has stocked a room with clothes, bedding, toiletry and other items for people in need.
Erik’s Closet is open on Tuesdays from 4 to 5 p.m. to the community and anyone can grab up to three items, the Sioux City Journal reported. It’s located in Siouxland Soup Kitchen’s building.
Danielle Tott said she’s been stocking up on items since taking over as manager at the Soup Kitchen a year ago.
“In the fall, I did a big coat drive and we gave out coats on the opening day of the Warming Shelter,” she said. “I didn’t realize the overwhelming needs.”
The closet is named after Erik Nuzum, 50, who was homeless and frequented the Soup Kitchen. He died in June after sustaining severe brain damage when he fell in an alley, according to his family.
“He was my favorite,” Tott said.
A funeral service was held for Nuzum at the Soup Kitchen.
The closet features a memorial for Nuzum on its entryway with his photo.
The closet hosted an opening event on Friday for the public. The open house allowed the community a chance to visit the Soup Kitchen, speak with board members and the kitchen’s volunteer coordinator, and see a trio of brand-new murals painted by local artists and speak with the painters.
The murals in feature a multi-colored eagle painted by the Dakota Valley High School art club, a sunrise and sunset painted by local artists Annie Bratkiewicz and Mike Frizzell, and the Siouxland Soup Kitchen name in a design of hands and branches painted by Emma Rae Webb, a Nebraska teen.