There is a need, and the Humboldt Soup Kitchen (HSK) is filling it.
Since the HSK first started operating in July, offering a free meal to those in need every Thursday evening, they've fed a lot of people.
According to numbers collected by Crystal Perkins, program coordinator at Family Services - Partners Building Hope (Partners), a partner in HSK, in eight weeks of operation, the soup kitchen had served 106 meals, including 36 meals to children.
Their highest attendance at one Thursday night supper was 23, and at one of their recent suppers, they had an entire table of teenagers and a total of 12 under the age of 18.
"We're having a lot of families come in," Perkins said. "We're happy to see them. It's sad and good at the same time."
Those who have come in for a meal at the kitchen are those who are truly in need, Perkins agreed.
That table full of teens says it all, she feels. There's no way they'd be showing up for a simple bowl of soup and a sandwich if they had any other choice.
The numbers from the first eight weeks show there is a definite need for what the HSK is doing, Perkins believes.
"Humboldt is booming," she agreed, but anytime there is a boom, there are people at the other end of the scale. Their costs - like rent - go up as property values increase, and people who struggle to begin with start to struggle even more.
"Not everyone thrives from a booming community," she said.
If people are forced to make a choice between getting groceries and putting a roof over their heads, they choose the roof, she said.
Helping these people get a warm meal is what organizer James Folster dreamed of when he first got the idea of starting a soup kitchen.
It feels excellent, he said, to see all these families coming in to eat.
"It's nice to see, but it's too bad they have to come at the same time," Folster noted, echoing the statement of Perkins.
Those who are coming out for a meal on Thursdays between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. are not just eating and running, Folster noted.
"They come and eat and stay and visit," he said.
All of those who have come out for a meal have been thankful for the food, the socializing, and the leftovers, which are split between them all. The food is divvied up very fairly by those taking it home, Perkins noted.
"It definitely warms your heart. People are so appreciative," Perkins said.
The HSK operates out of the Partners office on 9th St. now. Originally, they were offering the meals at the Humboldt Seniors' Hall, but switched locations a couple of weeks in.
Remarkably, all of the meals served by the HSK have been funded solely by donations. They have received no grants for the operation of this soup kitchen.
"People have donated anonymously," Perkins said. "We're really excited it's taken off, and that it's done on all donated materials."
All the food, she added, is prepared in certified kitchens, and they have dedicated volunteers who come out to serve the food and socialize with the patrons.
Those who operate the HSK have nothing but thanks for the community that has shown them such support.
"People donated, no questions asked," said Folster of starting up the kitchen. "We just had to mention (a need) and they were ready to give."
At one business, Folster said he simply asked to put up a poster advertising the HSK and "they loaded us up" with donations.
The HSK is partnering with the Humboldt Food Bank in their venture. The food bank has provided food for the kitchen, and places notices in the hampers they distribute, so people in need know where and when the HSK operates.
