Champaign Soup Kitchen Nourishes Community and Warms Hearts with Innovative Project

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in Champaign is a beacon of support, serving over 400 meals each day to those in need. As the temperatures drop, the organization is also focused on helping the community stay warm during the harsh winter months.

Veteran volunteers Ellen Harms and Karen Pickard have dedicated more than ten years to the kitchen. This season, they are busy preparing donations for the annual Knapsack Project, designed to provide essential winter items to the guests they serve.

“With the cold weather upon us, many of our guests face difficult conditions,” Pickard explained. “This initiative is our way of giving them a Christmas gift.”

Harms added, “For a lot of our guests, this may be the only gift they receive during the holidays. We strive to treat everyone with dignity, and they truly appreciate the thoughtfulness behind these gifts.”

The group started giving backpacks years ago, and now they’re handing out fully stocked knapsacks.

“And we fill them with all the goodies that people need during the cold weather,” Pickard said. “Hats, gloves, scarves, warm socks, some snack items and then a big bag of toiletries.”

Last year, they passed out 800 knapsacks and want to surpass that number this year. The soup kitchen will have the giveaway a week before Christmas but said they’re keeping the exact date under wraps.

“That is a good way to make sure that the people who come and are served every day for lunch, they’ll be here,” Pickard said. “And so, when we open this door and start passing out knapsacks that day, we’re definitely going to get guests who are here all the time. “

The soup kitchen is currently taking donations for items to put in the knapsacks. Pickard said people not only give money but also items they have made, like knitted scarves.

“They say you can judge a community by the way it treats its most vulnerable,” Pickard said. “And I think Champaign-Urbana does pretty well.”

Donors can stop by the soup kitchen at 116 N First Street in Champaign to give or to help serve food. Donations are accepted through Dec. 12 and can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and noon.