Rotarians host Ms. Helen’s volunteers

A number of volunteers and some staff members from Ms. Helen’s Soup Kitchen warmed the hearts of Crowley’s Rotarians on Tuesday as they shared the joy and fellowship they experience as they serve the community.
Following a history of Ms. Helen’s provided by Rotarian Peggy Sandidge, volunteer Torrie Majors told the club of the re-opening of the Kitchen in the midst of the pandemic shutdown. Sandidge, with whom Majors attends First Baptist Church in Crowley, called Majors and asked whether she and her three children could help out. They could and they did, “doing whatever they needed to do.”
Since then, Majors’ three children have entered the workforce and are no longer able to volunteer, but Majors is hooked. She said that through her work at the Kitchen, she has learned a lot about herself and her community, and she characterized Ms. Helen’s “a great blessing for everybody.”
Although the other volunteers present didn’t address the group directly, it was evident they felt the same way as Majors, chiming in with information and agreement.
When Majors’ first began volunteering, Ms. Helen’s was being rebuilt, and the meals were being served out of the kitchen of the former Redemptorist Catholic School.
They were served take-out only in to-go boxes due to pandemic restrictions. Following the completion of the renovations, the Kitchen moved back to its Seventh Street location, continuing to serve to-go meals.
When the COVID restrictions were lifted enough for them to open Ms. Helen’s, it was, Majors said, “a real treat for them to open that beautiful building.”
Majors refers to those who eat at Ms. Helen’s as “guests.” She told the group that prior to the pandemic the Kitchen was serving about 200 guests every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Now they are serving approximately 75 to 100 guests. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, however, they saw those numbers double, and the volunteers were especially happy to be able to give Christmas gifts to all of them. “Kids got gifts, adults got gifts,” said Majors.
Ms. Helen’s, which is open to everyone, provides both food and fellowship to its guests. The facility, which is back to serving in-person meals, can seat up to 86 people at a time.
For information on how to volunteer or make donations, call St. Michael Catholic Church at 337-783-7394.