Project Host Soup Kitchen

The Soup Kitchen at Project Host is a partner and Faith Fund grant recipient of First Baptist Greenville. While their building is located in the heart of Downtown on Academy Street, their heart is located in the midst of those experiencing homelessness, poverty and food insecurity. Focusing on feeding the hungry, training and education and paying it forward, Project Host’s big heart attracts others with big hearts, as well. Two such people are our very own John and Mary Braeunig, who have been volunteering with them since the early 1990s, and who have also served as the First Baptist Sunday “Day Captains” for about 20 years. Every fourth Sunday John and Mary, along with one of our Sunday School classes or small groups, are in the Soup Kitchen serving and building community. On Sunday, July 28, John and Mary and their Sunday School class, the Hope Class, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary, were able to volunteer and spend some time serving and meeting those who dined at Project Host that morning.

When asked about his favorite part about volunteering, John will tell you: “The people. Working at Place of Hope and Project Host, Mary and I have been consistent, persistent and insistent that the clients are our friends, and they matter. It’s really important to me to maintain those relationships. I don’t want anything from them. I just want to be their friend. And I love meeting the volunteers, especially the ones that take it seriously—the ones who are there and feel empathy and compassion for the people sitting in the dining room.” (from the volunteer blog at projecthost.org)
Thank you, Mary and John, the Hope Class, and everyone who does their part to provide nourishment, friendship and community to those most vulnerable in our city.

—Matt Rollins, Minister of Community Engagement