Living Bread Soup Kitchen to hold ribbon cutting Friday

May 21—This Friday, The Living Bread Soup Kitchen is inviting the public to celebrate its 15th anniversary — and also take a look at its brand new digs.

The soup kitchen organization will be hosting a ribbon cutting and open house at their new address, 321 South Maple Street, "just behind the library," as Director Gina Gaylor put it.

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, with a ribbon cutting being conducted by the Somerset-Pulaski Chamber of Commerce around noon.

The public will be treated to some light refreshments, and will be given a chance to tour the facility.

However, "It's not like it's a huge place." Gaylor joked. "It's two rooms basically — upstairs and downstairs."

The volunteer group spends two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, cooking around 300 meals to give out to those in need for free.

Gaylor said that the meals are offered "no questions asked." Some of their guests may be homeless, and some of them may just need a little extra help feeding their families.

Gaylor said that some of the meals also go to area recovery centers.

The organization also puts together a once-a-month food box giveaway where they hand out non-perishable food items.

While the group has been working for 15 years, they set up shop in different areas. Unfortunately, last year they were forced to move, as their home until March 2023 was in the Cornerstone Baptist Church — the same church building that was damaged by fire.

When the church's congregation began renting a building to serve as their temporary home while renovations were being made, Gaylor said the church was determined that Living Bread move with them.

Cornerstone was very accommodating for the soup kitchen, allowing them to use their rented building's facilities and not charge them rent in turn, she said.

But when the repairs were finished on the old Cornerstone building's sanctuary, the congregation decided to move back in. The rest of the building wasn't repaired, however, and with the church leaving their rented space, Living Bread wasn't able to stay there.

"They (Cornerstone) wanted us to go with them, but there was no place to put us," Gaylor said. "So we just started looking for a place, and the pastor of South Maple Street Baptist Church offered us this building. They had just purchased it a while back, and didn't really have a use for it."

South Maple Street Baptist got to work upgrading and renovating many parts of the building, while Living Bread began raising money to outfit it with the equipment they needed to operate, such as a three-compartment sink and exhaust hood for the stove.

"We have to be almost like a restaurant. We don't have to be as particular, but it's a lot of the same guidelines," Gaylor said.

The soup kitchen is now back in downtown Somerset, in a building that Gaylor said has been given to them to use for free.

It's also the first time they've had a building that is just for their use, rather than being in a room connected to a bigger facility.

"We've always had to share a place, which we were grateful for, of course. But this is the first time it's just been us, so it's really special for us," she said.

She added that Cornerstone still helps the organization financially.

However, it's hard not to think back to the concerning times right after the fire, when the organization was facing the question of how to operate without a place

Even then, though, Gaylor said she wasn't worried that they would be forced to end their mission.

"The only thing was I knew we might get postponed," she said. "I was surprised we were back up and running within two weeks, but that was thanks to the church (Cornerstone) getting on the ball and finding another temporary place."

She added, "We just started from scratch and said, 'We'll just do what we can and cook what we can with what we've got. If we have to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, that's what we'll do.'"

It's not unlike what is faced by many of the people they serve, although Gaylor said she hadn't thought about the situation in those terms.

For those who want to help, Gaylor said Living Bread Soup Kitchen accepts donations through PayPal or through their mailing address: P.O. Box 382, Ferguson, Ky., 42533.

The also conduct food drives with business partners, and take donations of non-perishable food items, she said.

Of course, folks are also welcome to come by their new South Maple Street home and drop off donations, too, she said.

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com