An estimated 600,000 to 3,000,000 people are homeless in the U.S. In addition, the numbers of other destitute people have increased dramatically due to growing unemployment, reduction in public assistance programs, de-institutionalizing of the mentally ill, and more people living below the poverty line. As the number of homeless and destitute people increases due to these socio-economic factors, the number of soup kitchens (SKs) and other feeding centers that attempt to help feed these individuals has steadily increased. The New York State and New York City Health Departments report there are now over 850 SKs in upstate and metropolitan New York – up from around 638 in 1996 and from 406 in 1991.

The primary goal of the MSKP is to aid the homeless and low-income people – Muslims and non-Muslims alike – by serving them free meals on a regular basis. This project will call for help from the entire Muslim community in the Capital District in various capacities.

The existence of a Muslim-run SK accomplishes the following:

1. Although there are many SKs in the area, there is not one that is sponsored by the Muslim community. This is the first step towards creating a fully functioning Muslim SK.

2. By asking mainly the youth of the community to aid with this project, it is the committee’s hope that they will become more active in their deen. This would not only teach them the aspect of generosity and brotherhood that Islam encourages, but it may also reinforce their faith.

3. The MSKP is a good example of da’wah through the action of the Muslim volunteers. It shows Muslims and non-Muslims alike the beauty of Islam and its teachings.

4. By asking all members of the Capital District region to participate in the MSKP, the committee hopes to bring the communities closer to each other.

The short-term goal of the MSKP is to use other established organizations’ facilities for the SK as the base location. Moreover, we will initiate a mobile SK in which food is delivered to people in the neighborhood.

As a long-term goal, the Muslim community will establish its own SK facility where it will serve food on a weekly basis. Furthermore, a separate fund will be set up for the MSKP.

AREAS OF NEED

People and Facilities

-Help find possible facilities to deliver/serve at

-Help find Muslim families/people in the area to deliver to – If possible Would require more drivers and mappers

-Help accumulate a list of facilities with their various limitations

-Note nature of facility on-line database

-Confirm locations and dates for project events

-Or we could Schedule with them Year before – Corresponds with schedule made

Shopping

-Complete necessary shopping for SKs (ie. groceries, meat, supplies)

-Assure that the food gets to the assigned cooks after shopping is completed -Usually done Friday Night during the Halaqa, Cooks pick it up from Masjid

-If unable to pickup, then a Volunteer drops it off at their house.

-Saturday Morning – Cooks drop off food to masjid, or get it picked up by volunteer

Cooking

-Give advice on quantity and quality of food needed

-Contact Cooks who will be cooking

-Keep a database of cooks

-Different menus are used to switch it up, Make things lighter on cooks at times

Publicity

-Publicity for getting cooks, drivers, and general volunteers

-Make announcements at the masjid, during jumuah, various duroos, and schools

-Send emails to individual mailing lists

-Make flyers

Mapping

-Take names and addresses (given the drivers and capacity of the cars) and map based on location

-Organize Map based on distance so it is easy for Drivers

-Mapquest is used, Could try out other Software

-Print driving directions for mobile soup kitchecn and to facilities

Recruiting Volunteers

- General awareness of Soup Kitchen project

     - Fliers/Pamphlets

     - Spreading the word about each soup kitchen (Post fliers at Masjids , Muslim Stores,

Facebook, Make Informational Posters

-Approaching by word of mouth

-Community Service hours – MSA’s should make a Mandadority Voluntary community service hours in order to be members

Dawah

-Order Pamphlits and Qur’an translations

-Making Stickers to put on Styrofoam packets for Labeling and Sustainability purposes

Finance

-To get started, get donations from Individuals, $200 is needed to have a Soup Kitchen per month to serve 150-200 people

NOTE: All of these items can be bought at Sam’s Club

General guidelines for how much of each item to buy:

·2 eggs per person

·1 bagel per person

·1 small packet per person

·1 cup of OJ per person

·1 cup of milk per person

·1 individual-sized cereal

·1 orange per person

General guidelines for how much of each item to buy:

·0.45 pounds of chicken per person

·0.25 pounds of rice per person

·One bread piece per person

·2 chocolate chip cookies per person

·0.125 pounds of salad per person

·1 bottle for 40 pounds of salad

BEST PRACTICES ON DAY OF A “STATIONARY AND MOBILE” SK

Mobile Soup Entity

-Allow 15 – 20 minutes for an orientation before the start of a soup kitchen

-Lunch is to be served at 11:30 AM at the soup kitchen facility

-For the mobile soup kitchen, packaging of the food begins around 9 AM so that the parties responsible for the mobile soup kitchen leave around 10:45 AM

-MSKP Committee members arrive 1.5 hrs before packaging begins, the cooked food arrives 1 hr before, and volunteers arrive 0.5 hrs before packaging begins

-Volunteers and packages are divided up by driver

-The drivers are the supervisor of their “units” (the group that will make all the food packages that the driver will take to soup kitchens)

-Find a suitable packaging area for each unit before food arrives

-When food arrives, develop efficient packaging stations

-Section off the styrofoam packages according to the car and the locations it is delivering to

-One person in each group packages chicken and bread

-One person packages rice and salad

-The driver and one other person counts packages and separates the packages by facility

-Establish one “floater” that either replenishes food or helps out where needed in the various units

-Confirm that there is a cell phone in each car in case of emergencies

-The person with the cell phone in the car must have the number to the established “home base” soup kitchen location

-One committee member stays behind at the facility

-The “floaters” of each group remain behind and 2 other volunteers

Stationary Entity

-Eight volunteers stay behind and begin to set up for lunch

-Four volunteers serve while four eat with the people; after a half an hour, volunteers shift their duties

-Clean up: our utensils are cleaned and facility is clean

-Committee member left over stays with one other volunteer (who has a car) until all mobile drives complete their drop off

BEST PRACTICES ON DAY OF AN “ONLY STATIONARY” SK

-Breakfast served at 10 AM

-Allow 15 – 20 minutes for an orientation

-Volunteers arrive 1 hour before the start of the soup kitchen

-Raw food arrives 1.5 hours before the start of the soup kitchen

-Committee members arrive 2 hrs before hand

-Clean up and shift in duties the same as above