ROSELLE, NJ — Soup Kitchen 411’s meal service on Friday, April 29, brought together its most prolific restaurant partner, Bayway Catering, and one of its most frequent food distribution partners, New Destiny Community Development Corp.
“This partnership with Soup Kitchen 411 has allowed us to meet the needs of so many people who are experiencing hunger. We’ve been able to literally impact hundreds of people on a weekly basis,” said the Rev. Reginald Atkins, pastor at New Destiny. “We’ve never seen that impact here in Roselle from any other nonprofit not based here.”
Friday night’s meals came from Linden-based Bayway Catering. They included 130 servings of teriyaki chicken and 120 servings of salmon with dill sauce, both with rice and vegetables. Each was served with salad and cookies, as is the case with almost all of the more than 60 meal services to date that Soup Kitchen 411 has done with Bayway Catering.
New Destiny has been receiving meals from Soup Kitchen 411 since March 2021, having distributed more than 10,000 meals there, for churchgoers and anyone in need of a hot meal. Atkins, who is also an assemblyman representing New Jersey’s 20th Legislative District, is a hunger awareness advocate, having attended events with Soup Kitchen 411 outside of his district, including a March distribution event in Roselle Park.
“As a career law enforcement officer, I know how important it is to feed people, when for so many people that meal is a tremendous difference in their life,” said Pete Stilianessis, special projects coordinator for Soup Kitchen 411 and the recently retired president of the State Troopers NCOs Association. “Representing Soup Kitchen 411 has been a tremendous honor. They’ve helped feed so many people in all situations across New Jersey.”
Stilianessis was on hand to distribute food Friday night, at the March Roselle Park event and at countless others.
New Destiny Community Development Corporation organizes weekly grocery distributions to local families in need every Friday at 5 p.m. Volunteers can call 908-648-1403 to register to help out.
Friday was the 25-day countdown to Taste of the State, Soup Kitchen 411’s inaugural fundraising event on Tuesday, May 24. The event hopes to bring in $1M to support the purchase of an additional 1,000,000 meals from local restaurants in 2022. Food distribution advocates can stay involved by following @SoupKitchen411 on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Photos Courtesy of Dan Knitzer