The Community Soup Kitchen of Goldsboro, Inc.

The Soup Kitchen is located at 112 W. Oak St in Goldsboro and serves lunch from 11am-12pm, Monday thru Saturday. 

Volunteer of the Year 2006

Cornelia Grundmeier

    Volunteer of the Year 2007 

Maria Leacott

Volunteer of the Year 2008

Eldica Cyrus

News-Argus/MITCH LOEBER

Forced Annexation Debtors Prison Chain Gang team members Glenna Eckenrod, left, and Cornelia Grundmeier fill cups with their top-secret chili at the Really Chili Cookoff Saturday.

Judges name top chili, funds raised for soup kitchen

By Catharin Shepard
Published in News on October 25, 2009 2:00 AM

The third annual Really Chili Challenge benefit for the Goldsboro Community Soup Kitchen attracted hungry crowds and chili cooks ravenous for victory Saturday at Cornerstone Commons.

Soup kitchen director Andrea Heekin has worked with the cook-off since late radio personality Jerry Wayne suggested it as a way to raise money for the soup kitchen. The event started with just 13 teams and 75 attendees and continues to grow. This year, 23 teams and more than 350 people attended, making it the biggest chili cook-off yet.

"We are so excited, we have seen a great response to our event," Ms. Heekin said.

The contest has raised about $75,000 for the soup kitchen, and organizers hope to add another $15,000 or more from this year's competition.

The fundraiser was especially vital for the kitchen this year, said board member and competitor Scottie Weathers. The soup kitchen is now serving about 120 people a hot meal every day, a considerable increase from the average of about 90 people a day who were served in previous years, she said.

"This is such a fantastic cause, we are happy so many people are out here," Ms. Weathers said.

Her booth, the Skili Chili Creations entry, won the people's choice award in last year's competition. Their winning strategy was to have a good chili with lots of toppings available, such as sour cream, hot peppers and cheese, so chili lovers could craft their own favorite dish.

Tara Humphries donned a T-shirt and apron to help with the Wayne Community College Blazing Bisons booth. Students, faculty and staff of the college's Adult High School Dream Team volunteered to hand out samples of the vegetarian chili.

For the Dream Team, it was more about teamwork and community involvement than the chili itself, Ms. Humphries said.

"We succeed whether our chili is fantastic or not. Our success is that we have a great team," she said.

Chili cooker "Spicey Ricey" was a little more reluctant to share his recipe for success.

"I really won't tell you my secret, but one thing is not to leave too much grease in the chili," he said.

His team, sponsored by the Johnson-Russell Construc-tion Co., used old-fashioned cast iron pots for cooking the chili. He even grew his own hot peppers, but the chili he prepared for the cook-off wasn't too hot, he said.

"Depends on the crowd. A lot of people don't like it that hot," he said.

Some cooks used sirloin or ground turkey, and at least one booth used venison for the chili. Brenda Thompson of Downtown Deli put special focus on the beans for her wood-grilled chili, she said. She started soaking the pinto and kidney beans three days before the competition.

The "Hot Chili Chics" of the Downtown Deli booth got into the groove of the live performers, dancing to the music as they served samples of chili with crackers and spoons to the hungry crowd. It wasn't just fun, though, but for a worthy cause, Ms. Thompson said. Her restaurant often donates food to the soup kitchen and this year is donating all tips to Habitat for Humanity.

Cheryl Jeffries' chili had to endure a tough preliminary competition before she even made it to the cook-off. Thirteen other teams from Wayne Memorial Hospital were in the running, but "My Grandma's Chili" beat them all.

And she didn't even grow up making it, Mrs. Jeffries said.

"I'm from the north and I never made chili before," she said.

Her Southern husband passed away and left her with several recipes for chili, and when she moved to North Carolina in 1982, she started experimenting with the ingredients.

"You don't want it too hot, you want it to have the sweetness and the spice," Mrs. Jeffries said.

Southerners don't like it too hot, but for her, "it's never too hot," she said.

And to the victors went the bowls -- handcrafted, glazed chili bowls.

Bloody Brewed Chili claimed the prize for best name and also took home third place in the people's choice category. The First Presbyterian Church and Wayne Community College tied for second place in the people's choice award and the Loving Spoonful chili took home the top people's choice prize.

But the biggest award of the day went to the Southern Sanitation team's chili, which won first place in the cook-off. Second place went to the Squirrel Hut chili, while Dr. Chili's Germ-Kicking Chili claimed third place overall.

A team of judges representing county and city government, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and local fire departments scored the chili in a blind taste test. Judges graded the chili based on taste, color, aroma and afterburn.

DECEMBER 15, 1980

DECEMBER 15, 2009

 29 YEARS

OF SERVICE

THANK YOU WAYNE COUNTY FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT IN OUR MINISTRY TO FEED THE HUNGRY IN OUR COMMUNITY

FOOD

FUNDING 

FELLOWSHIP 

What We Do?

We bring together people and resources of Wayne County to provide a daily meal for those who are hungry.  Each person is welcomed with understanding, dignity and without obligation.  

We have served over 753,289 meals for the hungry in Wayne County, since 1980.

What We Need?

KITCHEN ITEMS NEEDED FOR DAILY OPERATIONS:

HOT AND COLD CUPS (9 0Z.)

PAPER PLATES/BOWLS

SPOONS

NAPKINS

SALT AND PEPPER/ SPICES

55 GALLON TRASH BAGS

NAPKINS/PAPER TOWELS

CLEANING SUPPLIES

CRACKERS

SUGAR/OIL/VINEGAR

BUTTER

CAN/DRY GOODS

WASHING POWDER

DISPOSABLE SERVING GLOVES

TEA / KOOL-AID

ONIONS

Community Soup Kitchen gets set for Thanksgiving holiday dinners

 By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on November 26, 2009 7:01 AM

The Community Soup Kitchen is expecting to serve at least 130 people today, and on Wednesday volunteers were beginning the preparation of a dozen big turkeys that would serve as the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal.

With the approach of the holiday season, the kitchen has seen an increase in the number of people coming in to eat, said Doricia Benton, the director of the facility on West Oak Street.

Over the past week, the number of people eating at the free kitchen has increased by about 25 percent over its usual average of just over a hundred a day.

"For the last week, we've been serving 130-plus (plates) a day," Ms. Benton said as volunteers bustled about the kitchen, with the smell of already roasting turkeys wafting through the room.

Ms. Benton said that although the soup kitchen has everything it needs for the Thanksgiving holiday, she wanted to remind Wayne County residents that the needs of the hungry extend far beyond the holiday season.

"This is 52 weeks out of the year that the need is there," she said. "Just keep us in your hearts and minds throughout the whole year."

With the economy still in distress the need this winter is likely to grow even greater, she added.

"Our numbers, I believe, are going to grow, and we're going to need the help throughout the whole year."

Although the feeling of Thanksgiving was hanging heavy in the air, Ms. Benton pointed out that it was really just another day at the kitchen, which has been helping feed those in need for 29 years.

Cooking coordinator Susan Britt, who works at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, noted that the kitchen not only serves those who stop in, looking for a bite, but that it also provides meals to people who can't make the trip to the kitchen.

A year ago, she said, a woman who had come down from Maryland called and said that her sister's family was in dire need. The two women drove out to see the elderly couple and found them sick, with no electricity and no food.

The sister said she was trying to help them get back on their feet but that her own resources were running out.

The pair packed up food and water and headed out to the mobile home near Dudley.

"She (the sister) was just so grateful," Ms. Benton said, adding that whenever possible, the Soup Kitchen staff is willing to go "outside of the box" to help people, because they realizes not everyone can make it to the kitchen.

"You have to make a judgment call every day. There's certain guidelines that we have to go by every day in our operations, but also the board allows us to run with our heart," Ms. Benton said, referring to the board that oversees the work of the kitchen and its volunteers.

At the kitchen itself, Ms. Benton said that she often gives people  leeway when they come in after the "official" lunch hour, from 11 a.m. until noon. A man on Wednesday showed up late and said it was because he had just finished up an odd job of  painting to earn some money. No problem, said Ms. Benton, as long as there were people there, a plate of hot food would be available.

That kind of service enables the volunteers to feel they've done something for the community, Ms. Britt said.

The feeling of satisfaction is never greater than at Thanksgiving, she said, because of the tradition surrounding the meal and the fact that so many people would do without unless it was for their efforts and the efforts of the people who donate to the facility.

As a family of four left the kitchen of Goldsboro Wednesday afternoon, the mother looked back at Ms. Benton and smiled. They carried boxes of food to take home with them, and seemingly couldn't thank her enough, each one beaming as they walked to their car.

"When we go home, we can sleep nice, because we know we've done all we can for these people," she said.

Donations to help the kitchen can be arranged by calling 731-3939.

What's New?  

3rd Annual

Really Chili Challenge

Winners 2009

Southern Sanitation

1st Place

Squirrel Hut

2nd Place

Dr. Chili's Germ Kicking Chili

3rd Place

Loving Spoonful

1st Place

People's Choice

First Presbyterian Church

&

Wayne Comm. College

tied 2nd Place

People's Choice Award

Bloody Brewed Chili

3rd Place

People's Choice Award

&

Best Name

View pictures from the Really Chili Challenge 2008

Monthly Resources

• We have scheduled free client haircuts for the first Monday of every month.  
• Goshen Medical will be on-site every Tuesday of each month.  
• Veterans Outreach Healthcare for Homeless Veterans. For more information please contact the office at 919-731-3939.
• Downtown Lion's Club (Rep. Carolyn Kirkland) comes once a month to help four clients with vouchers for eye exams and eye glasses.