This annual Empty Bowls event is always a fun time to see friends and neighbors, choose a gorgeous handmade bowl and enjoy a delicious bowl of soup and some bread from the Silvercreek chefs! Hope to see you there! Proceeds benefit Daily Bread Soup Kitchen.
We soup kitchen volunteers are always looking for ways to tell the Daily Bread story because we believe so strongly in what we do. The Daily Bread Speaker’s Bureau is a corps of eager, enthusiastic volunteers who are available to speak to organizations about Daily Bread. We are willing to go to any group that would like to learn more about the issue of hunger in the CU community and what Daily Bread is doing to try to combat this problem.
If you are a church, school or social group who would like to hear our story, please contact Karen Pickard at kkpickard@gmail.com for more information.
For the last eleven years, we have handed out generously filled backpacks to the men and women who are our guests at lunch. The men and women we see daily are rarely remembered at Christmas. For many, these backpacks were their only presents. There were always lots of smiles on Backpack Day at the soup kitchen.
Sadly, due to COVID, we can’t celebrate a 12th year of Backpack Giveaway in our usual way. Our dining room, where we’ve handed out backpacks and let guests choose their size and color, is closed due to the pandemic. In addition, we are only allowing a smaller number of volunteers into the building so we won’t have enough help to sort and organize backpacks.
Instead, this year we are planning a Knapsack Giveaway in mid-December. We plan to buy knapsacks in two colors, one for men and one for women, and fill them with essential items including toiletries, hats, gloves, and scarves. We will hand out the knapsacks from the front door just as we hand out hot meals every day.
Last year we gave away over 800 backpacks. We’re assuming that we will need that many or more knapsacks this year. We are once again asking for your help to fill the knapsacks.
We are looking for donations of toiletries such as deodorant, hand lotion for hands chapped by the cold, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, shaving cream, razors, chapstick, etc. Cold weather items such as gloves, hats, and scarves are needed. We would like to also include a small treat such as candy bars, chips, etc. Since the backpacks are a Christmas gift, all items should be new.
Items can be dropped off at Daily Bread, 116 N. First Street, Champaign, from 9 a.m. to 12 P.M. every day. Please use the back door on the alley when dropping off items. Donations can also be dropped off at Ellen Harms’ (705 S. Elm Blvd. 356-2551) at Pam Hagle’s (713 S. Elm Blvd. 359-3245) or at Ruthann Evans’ (4414 Crossgate Dr. 398-5687). Tax forms will be available. And don’t forget to wear your mask!
We are extremely grateful to everyone who participated in past Backpack Giveaways and all who participate in this year’s Knapsack Giveaway. Thank you for bringing some of the joy and magic of the season to the guests at Daily Bread during this very difficult year.
This year, you bring the STUFF, and we’ll STUFF the knapsacks. And, hopefully, in 2021, we will all be back in the backpack business again!
If you have any questions, please call or e-mail Ellen at 356-2551 or ellenharms@aol.com
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Daily Bread Soup Kitchen provides outreach assistance to our guests in a number of areas.
Birth certificate and ID application day is the second Wednesday of the month from 10:30 a.m.- 12 p.m.
Annual Bus Pass applications are taken twice per year. The date is not publicized ahead of time but regular guests will be aware of when it takes place.
Local agencies come to DBSK on a regular basis to provided information and referrals to our guests.
Avicenna Community Health Center (first and third Wednesday of the month)
* Free blood pressure test
* Free blood sugar test
* Information on where and how to get free health care
* Make an appointment to see a doctor
Champaign County Health Care Consumers (third Friday of the month)
* Enrollment in free or affordable health insurance
* Access to free or affordable health care
* Medicaid and SNAP (food stamp) applications
* Access to free or affordable dental care, eye exams, and glasses
* Access to free or affordable prescriptions
* Dealing with medical bills and applying for hospital financial assistance
* Application for SafeLink phones.
Champaign-Urbana Tenant Union (second Wednesday of the month)
* Help with evictions and other landlord problems
* Information about your rights to rent
* Help understanding leases and legal notices
* Low cost list of rental options
Department of Veterans Affairs (every Monday)
* Healthcare and Housing for Veterans
Salvation Army, Supportive Services for Veteran Families (every Monday)
* Housing stability-focused service delivery program for very low income Veteran families throughout central Illinois.
* Serves Veteran families that are homeless or imminently at risk of being homeless.
* Provides on-going support, as needed, to sustain independent living.
Smile Healthy (first Wednesday of the month)
* Provide information on extractions and fillings, restorations, cleanings and full exams
* Dental Care Education
* Limited urgent care
SNAP/Link cards/Food Stamps (every Tuesday)
* Provide information on SNAP/Link cards and Food Stamps.
* Assist in registration.
In addition to providing a daily meal, as our funds allow we also try and help guests in other ways. Assistance Days are held the 2nd Wednesday of the month. At that time, guests may apply for a State ID and/or birth certificate, both in-state and out of state. This identification is necessary to receive public assistance, enroll children in schoolOutreach or to find a job. Twice a year, we buy yearly bus passes for guests who demonstrate a need. We believe that providing a person with a year’s worth of transportation for $84 is money well spent. We also advocate for our guests at local agencies.
Representatives from over 10 local agencies come to DBSK once a month or as frequently as once a week to help our guests navigate their services. Agencies currently participating are:
Food Donations can be dropped off at the alley door of DBSK, at 116 N. First Street, Champaign, between the hours of 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. seven days per week.
We gratefully accept fresh fruit and vegetables as well as canned goods and frozen foods.
Non-perishables are also welcomed.
All donated prepared food must be made in a Public Health Approved kitchen.
Meat must have been processed in an approved meat processing plant.
Eggs can only be accepted from a certified source, such as a grocery store. A person who sells eggs elsewhere must have a label on the cartons showing that the eggs are approved by the USDA.
Questions? Please contact Dick Bennett at dickbennett@aol.com or 217) 377-4044.DonateDonate
In order to continue our mission of feeding the hungry, Daily Bread needs an income stream that is reliable and sustainable. For many years, St. Jude’s Catholic Worker House Soup Kitchen was sustained by its “Ten Dollar a Month Club.” Month after month many loyal supporters (including many of you who are reading this and followed us to Daily Bread) sent in checks that kept the bills paid, the pantry stocked, and the oven hot. Now, with the “Bread of the Month Club, ” you make a commitment of whatever is comfortable for you, be it $10, $20, $50 or more per month.
Once you join we’ll send you a profuse thank you, but we won’tBread of the Month Club be sending you monthly reminders or envelopes. For more information contact our treasurer Stevie Bennett at Katie983@aol.com.
Anne Frank wrote in her diary, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Please don’t wait. Join Daily Bread’s Bread of the Month Club today.
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This is a featured content post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post.