Students and senior citizens alike enjoy a delicious soup lunch at the Bethel Methodist Church Chaia Alford/ The Bethel Citizen

BETHEL— On Oct. 16, the community came together at the Bethel Methodist Church to enjoy an afternoon of soup and community.  “Don’t let anyone tell you that there’s no such thing as free lunch, because it’s free and it’s lunch,” said Bonnie Pooley, the primary organizer of the event. The event happens once a month on every third Wednesday, and has been going on for the past three or so years.

Soup’s on began back during the pandemic, when many seniors in the community were afraid to leave their homes. At that time Jim and James, a local couple, began cooking meals once a week for members of the community who would not leave their homes. “At most it was only 50 people,” said Bonnie. The meals were delivered by volunteers.

When the pandemic finally came to a close, Bonnie wanted to help encourage people to come out of their houses and interact with each other. “We needed ways to feed people as they came together,” she said. From that idea came the beginning of Soup’s On, a monthly church event for people to come together, enjoy a good meal, and spend some time interacting with other community members.

Bonnie’s favorite thing about the event is “the noise level. It just goes up and up.” While the event is mainly geared towards senior citizens, there were also members of Bethel’s younger population. Adam Leff brought a couple students from Gould academy who were interested in community engagement and service.

The meal itself is donation optional, meaning that everyone can come and eat, regardless of financial status. “It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor,” said Bonnie. “No one cares.” The setup of the room itself helped to foster engagement between people, with long tables that encouraged people to sit together and chat as they shared a good meal.

The event as it is today no longer leaves all the cooking to two people. Soups are made by volunteers, and coordinated by Bonnie so that there are a large variety of soup types. This month’s meeting offered nine different types of soup. And that wasn’t the only kind of food featured. There was also a table with coffee, dessert bars, and bread for the tables. Partway through the meal, there was a special appearance of fresh, warm focaccia, brought over by Anne Sysko, of the Gemini cafe. At its fullest, nearly every table was taken by people talking, laughing, and enjoying a meal together.