Over the last two years, the Bard Student Activist Network (BSAN) has tried to volunteer at a local soup kitchen. However, it has been difficult to find a date to volunteer, especially during the holidays. Volunteering at a soup kitchen has been getting harder and harder, not because people don’t want to do it, but because it has become too popular. Soup kitchens often have an overflow of volunteers, sometimes so many that they don’t know what to do with them.

When Cathy Kim, a Year II BSAN member, tried to schedule a day to volunteer in early November, she was turned away. “The Coordinator at Father’s Heart Church’s Soup Kitchen on East 11th street said that they were booked though November and December due to the increase in the volume of volunteers during the holiday season,” Kim said. “I asked for many, many dates to volunteer before they finally found one that was available at the end of January.”

Why is there such a volunteering surplus at soup kitchens across New York City? “When I volunteer at a soup kitchen, I know exactly how I am helping. However, if I give money to someone homeless on the train, I don’t know what that money is going toward,” says Amelia Holcomb, a 10th grader. Sofia Johnson, also a 10th grader, adds, “I actually feel like I am making a difference because I can see the results right in front my eyes when I volunteer at a soup kitchen.”

Salina Kalik, a Year II, believes that “It is especially important to volunteer during these difficult economic times.” The New York Coalition against Hunger states that more than 87% of soup kitchens and food pantries have seen a significant rise in the number of people volunteering their services.

The soup kitchens are filled with volunteers. “During the holidays, we get many eager volunteers and sadly enough we sometimes have to turn them away because we don’t have enough jobs for them on the floor,” says Natalie Westford, the manager of a soup kitchen in Queens. Soup kitchens only need a specific number of volunteers each day and usually they have enough. When the holiday season comes around, people want to express their gratitude for all that they have by giving back to society. Volunteering at a soup kitchen is one of the most convenient and fulfilling activities they can do.

“If students and families really wish to volunteer, I would encourage them to schedule a time in advance to come in and volunteer,” adds Westford. Also, most soup kitchens run all year round, so there’s no need to wait for the holidays to volunteer.

However, soups kitchens are not the only way people can help reduce hunger in New York City and around the world. Westford says that “Adult volunteers can offer their skilled services such as legal or technical help to make a huge difference. Monetary donations are also extremely helpful.”

Students also can make a very big difference by holding fundraisers for their local soup kitchen or food banks, holding canned food collection drives and sometimes even by clicking a button.

For every click Kraft Foods donates a box of Mac and Cheese:
http://brands.kraftfoods.com/sharealittlecomfort/

For every correct answer Free Rice donates rice to developing countries while helping you improve your vocabulary: http://www.freerice.com/

So go out there and spread some holiday cheer by volunteering for a soup kitchen, or just clicking a button.