Flint, MI – The North End Soup Kitchen’s ability to provide soap, shampoo, toilet paper and other non-food essentials to those in need got a big boost thanks to collection efforts launched earlier this month in connection with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

 

Loads of donations rolled into the North End Soup Kitchen this week including 342 rolls of toilet paper, 325 bars of soap and more than 14 cases of feminine hygiene products.

 

A new MLK Day committee that included representatives from area nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities launched the collection in early January and wrapped up efforts on Jan. 20. Two Men and a Truck, a local moving company, supplied the 25 large boxes used at collection sites.

 

Catholic Charities, which runs the North End Soup Kitchen as well as two other soup kitchens and three sack lunch programs, runs a Community Closet which will distribute these items to the most needy and poor in the community. Last year, the Community Closet helped over 23,000 people, distributed away over 62,700 personal need items and 170,000 pieces of clothing and household items.

 

“None of these items are sold so everything is free to our families in need,” said North End Soup Kitchen director Jon Manse. The soup kitchen is a ministry of Catholic Charities of Shiawassee and Genesee Counties.

 

The words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. propelled the effort: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”

 

“There is a tremendous amount of need in our area and we wanted to give people an opportunity to help to whatever extent they were able,” said Julia Zaher, Director of Volunteer Services at HandsOn Genesee, the Volunteer Center for Genesee County and a program of Resource Genesee.

 

Organizations that hosted drop-off boxes included: Baker College of Flint, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Flint, ELGA Credit Union, Financial Plus Federal Credit Union, Flint Public Library, Kettering University, Longway Planetarium, Mott Community College, the North Side Mini Station, Resource Genesee, Salem Housing Community Development Corp., Sloan Museum and University of Michigan-Flint.

 

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Donations of toiletries, toilet paper, laundry detergent and more are continually needed. Items can be dropped off at North End Soup Kitchen, 735 Stewart Ave., Flint, Monday through Saturday, 9am to 4pm. Contact North End Soup Kitchen, 810-785-6911.