Soup Kitchen expanding to meet growing need in Moncks Corner area

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCBD) – A church in Berkeley County is expanding its soup kitchen to help meet a growing need for food assistance.

A groundbreaking was held Monday at Moncks Corner Baptist Church.

“The Soup Kitchen here is a blessing to the community. They serve the underserved, the low-to-moderate-income people, the homeless, the sick, and shut-ins. They do it all with a smile,” said Michelle Taylor, the church’s administrator.

Open four days a week, the Soup Kitchen has seen a big increase in people seeking assistance since it began operating back in 2015.

“The numbers are growing. I saw that early on they were feeding about 175 people per month, and the last numbers that I saw was 500+,” Taylor said.

The church is receiving about $250,000 in a Berkeley County Community Development block grant to build a 900-square-foot building to grow its soup kitchen ministry.

Moncks Corner Mayor Thomas Hamilton said the ministry pays $150 a week in food costs.

“It’s $150 a week. So, every month when the Town of Moncks Corner pays me, I’m gonna pay for a week of food for the soup kitchen,” Mayor Hamilton said during Monday’s groundbreaking. “Thank you for what you’re doing.”

And the kitchen is meeting needs.

“I observed the Soup Kitchen volunteers serve a family that came that was living in a car. That really broke my heart,” said Taylor.

Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb says the taxpayer dollars will be effective in helping those in need through this already-established ministry.

“They’ve outgrown their space. There’s a big need. There’s a lot of folks out in the community that are making decisions on a daily basis on my prescription drugs, or do I go out to eat, and this meal provided three or four days a week, really helps the family in need,” said Supervisor Cribb.

Moncks Corner Baptist Church officials say they should be able to open the new building sometime in the next year.