The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘People in our community are suffering’
Salisbury women organize effort to feed those affected by pandemic
SALISBURY — Through the efforts of seven local women, 130 people in need recently got to enjoy a hot meal.
The effort, launched last week, was the first “Souper Supper” by Community Cares, the organization name the women have chosen for themselves. People who signed up with the group ahead of time received vegetable soup, bread rolls, cheese, an orange, a brownie, and tea bags donated by Harney & Sons.
“Community Cares is a name that we gave to a group of friends who have been concerned with what’s been happening during this last year, since the pandemic has taken up and changed so much of
our lives,” said Salisbury resident Kathy Voldstad, 67, one of the organizers.
The women plan to continue serving meals monthly. The next dinner is planned for the end of March.
“We are very aware people in our community are suffering, either from a financial situation or just from loneliness in so
many other ways,” Voldstad said. “Families are educating their kids and working from home. Everybody’s housebound.”
Voldstad said she and the other women wondered for a long time what they could do to help out and brainstormed many ideas.
“Now that we’re getting vaccinated, we wanted to try to reach out and we came up with this idea,” she said.
To spread the word about their effort, the women distributed fliers throughout their community, to Salisbury Family Services, the Corner Food Pantry, Chore Service — which provides jobs and housing assistance — and on social media. They also told local supermarkets. “For those who have been on the front lines, making sure that everything was working for this past year during the pandemic, we wanted to see if we could make them dinner,” she said.
Those who were interested in getting a meal signed up ahead of time, and the list kept growing.
“We didn’t need to know anyone’s circumstances,” Voldstad said. “If they felt the need of a meal, we were happy to provide them with a meal.”
When looking for a commercial-size kitchen they could use to prepare and serve the meal, the Congregational Church of Salisbury “was very generous and offered to let us use their kitchen,” Voldstad said. “We made a menu and bought food and started fixing it.”
Freund’s Farm Market in the East Canaan neighborhood provided the raw ingredients for the soup, such as green beans, cabbage, celery, onions, potatoes, zucchini and carrots.
“We picked up the ingredients on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we had a team chopping up vegetables and cooking them up. Thursday, we ladled it into the containers and Friday, we assembled the bags,” she said.
People came to the church to pick up their orders. For those unable to leave their their homes, “we had several delivery crews,” she said, adding she delivered about 20 meals to a local retirement community.
Aside from wanting to respond to a need in her community, Voldstad said the hot meals are a way of paying it forward.
“There was so much enthusiasm, and the word spread around town,” she said. “It was really wonderful, especially after this last year, that we could reach out in the community.”