The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
30 YEARS OF KARING
“Theway you survive in the world is you have someone to rely on.” — Melissa King, The Karing Kitchen coordinator
The Karing Kitchen is more than just your typical soup kitchen, says coordinator Melissa King.
“We treat each other as family,” says King, who has headed the program in Oneida for the past 15 years. “I treat everyone as my child.”
King, who grew up in a military family and was no stranger to moving around, says even as a child she sought out volunteer activities. She’s been active in the Oneida community since the early 1990s, when she attended a Recreation Department Halloween party, loved it, and asked how she could help going forward.
She also offered her services to the Salvation Army when it was stationed in the city, and has a hand in the annual Share a Caring Christmas at Nye Automotive, collecting toys to distribute to families in need.
It’s all part and parcel to the
Karing Kitchen’s goal of community outreach.
“The way you survive in the world is you have someone to rely on,” King says, and she aims to make sure Karing Kitchen -- and her team of volunteers -- are that someone.
The Kitchen offers lunch the last full week of every month, starting with a coffee hour. The idea is to help families stretch their budgets just that much more as Food Stamps and other assistance runs out before the start of the next month. But it’s more than that, too, King says. The Kitchen is open to everyone, regardless of income, age, religion or residence, as a way for community members to connect with one another.
Beyond serving meals, King says she strives to be a shoulder for those who need a confidant, or just someone to listen to them. She gives advice as well as compassion, and does what she can to facilitate outreach to those in need.
She can recall several examples, though one stands out. A young pregnant mother was afraid Child Protective Services would take away her children because she was poor. The Kitchen threw her a baby shower to make sure she had everything she needed for her children.
“It was very moving for everybody involved,” King says.
That same mother later donated some of those items back to the Kitchen, paying forward the community’s kindness to make sure no other parent was faced with a similar situa- tion.
“We’re all in it together,” King says. “I think that’s the best part of Karing Kitchen.”
About 30 community groups help support the Kitchen year-round, including area churches, youth groups and civic organizations. King says she does her best to make sure there’s never a duplication of services between the Kitchen and other entities to make sure “the dollars stretch as far as possible.”
In the past, those dollars have stretched particularly far. While the Kitchen normally serves a few dozen families, during the 2013 flood in Oneida, that number skyrocketed to more than 300. King says she was lucky because she’d already had a surplus of food ready to go for an extended weekend schedule during that summer, but she still had to reach out to several organizations and rely on community donations to make sure she could take care of everyone who needed it.
“It’s always a challenging thing,” King says.
Years later, she says those who donated in the past continue to ask how they can help. The best way, King says, is through gift cards and cash, since she can work with stores and the Food Bank of Central New York to stretch those dollars the farthest they’ll go. It also offers more versatility in what types of meals she can provide
And though a lot has changed at the Karing Kitchen throughout its three decade history, the mission has remained the same.
It moved from the Armory on Cedar Street to the basement of the First United Methodist Church at 116 W. Grove St., where more than 200 people can now be seated. It’s a sig- nificant upgrade in space, King says, helping her reach more community members in need.
Going forward, King would love to see Madison County build a proper homeless shelter. She also encourages residents to vote. “I think sometimes people feel they don’t have the right to say something,” she says.
She also encourages those who can to volunteer, because the Kitchen can’t run without them. Her entire staff -- including herself -are volunteers, many coming from Holy Cross Academy and St. Patrick’s.
Originally created by the council of churches, the Karing Kitchen is non-denominational and apolitical, and welcomes guests of all types to come join the “family.”
“Everybody respects each other,” .she says. “Everybody is here to help each other out.”