Holy Trinity Church in Concord, NH, Comes to the Aid of Local Soup Kitchen
On the morning of Saturday, April 30, 2011 the Friendly Kitchen, Concord, New Hampshire’s only soup kitchen, was completely destroyed in a devastating fire. The Friendly Kitchen, which serves almost 1,000 meals per week needed a temporary location to serve the more than 100 people in the Concord area who rely on the soup kitchen on a daily basis.
The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church located around the corner from the Friendly Kitchen came to their assistance, offering the church hall and kitchen as the temporary location of the soup kitchen in Concord. The Very Rev. Fr. Agathonikos Wilson said “we are always asked how the Gospel message written some two thousand years ago is relevant today, well now we have a chance as a community to live the Gospel message in a very real and tangible way.”
Fr. Agathonikos continued, “For almost 31 years, a group of dedicated women from the Holy Trinity Church have been serving meals at the Friendly Kitchen on the first Monday of every month. We have had a very long standing relationship with the Friendly Kitchen.”
The Friendly Kitchen has over 50 organizations, like the ladies of Holy Trinity, who come in once a month to prepare and serve a meal. The Friendly Kitchen, founded in 1980, serves lunch and dinner on Monday through Friday and breakfast and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. The Friendly Kitchen seeks to provide a meal for the hungry in a warm and caring non-discriminating environment through the coordination of community volunteer resources.
His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios commented, “the parish leadership and the Holy Trinity Community are to be commended for taking this loving and compassionate action, heeding the message of the Gospel and offering a temporary home to those in need in the Concord community.” NH Governor John Lynch has visited the Friendly Kitchen and has offered his thanks to the Holy Trinity Community for coming to the assistance of the soup kitchen and to those in need in the capital region.
Concord is a city of about 42,000 people and is the state capital of New Hampshire.
