January 30, 2008
History and Mission of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen
Dennis Micai
Executive Director, Trenton Area Soup Kitchen
Minutes of the 17th Meeting of the 66th Year
President Giordmaine called the 17th meeting of the 66th year of the Old Guard of Princeton to order at 10:15 AM in the Carl Fields Center.
The invocation was led by George Hansen. The minutes of the January 23rd meeting were read with great clarity by Harvey Rothberg. J. B.Smith introduced his guest, Reeves Hicks. Bill Walker introduced his guest, Peter Wise. John Rassweiiler introduced his visitor, Nancy Hale. Approximately 90 members were in attendance.
Dick Hanson introduced our speaker, Dennis Micai, Executive Director of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, generally known as TASK. A social services professional for 37 years, Micai’s degrees are in criminal psychology and in public administration. Director Micai began by noting that with Peter Wise (the previous director of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) in the audience, he felt a bit like Phil Bengston. Who was Phil Bengston, you might ask, he said. Phil Bengston, for those who didn’t know, was the coach who followed Vince Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers. Addressing the question:
“Why do we need soup kitchens in this country today?” Mr. Micai described how with the loss of manufacturing jobs (in Trenton the potteries and General Motors, for example), and with the flight to the suburbs, most of the citizens living in urban areas such as Trenton are those with the lowest incomes and those who simply cannot earn a living. He referred to Loretta Schwartz Noble’s book Standing in the Shadow of Poverty for a more complete discussion of the reasons for such poverty.
After showing a short video on TASK, our speaker talked about the history, the mission, and the current activities of the Soup Kitchen. The initial impetus for TASK in the early 1980s was expressed by a small group of civic minded individuals led by Rev. Arthur Stanley who said that someone ought to help feed the hungry of Trenton, without cost to anyone truly in need. TASK’s first meals were served at the 1st Methodist Churchto 60 people. Because the church was in the center of town, business people soon objected, saying that a soup kitchen there was bad for business. Eventually the Soup Kitchen itself became homeless, and at one point people were serving meals from the back of a car. Trenton’s need for a soup kitchen eventually was recognized, however, and in 1987 TASK was offered the lease of some city land at $1 a year for 40 years. The first building took four years to construct; TASK is still at that site on Escher St. in Trenton.
The policy of TASK is “open door, unconditional service, no questions asked” of those who are served meals five days a week.
TASK has expanded to serve 175,000 meals currently per year (2007), nine meals a week at the main site on Escher St. in Trenton (where 800 meals were served last Tuesday because it was near the end of the month), and additional meals at two satellite sites, 30,000 meals in the south ward and starting this week at a location in the west ward.
TASK is a charitable, non-profit organization whose mission is to respond to the needs of people in the Trenton area by:
Numerous questions elicited more information: the TASK budget is $1.7 million; it has a staff of 20 and 2000 volunteers, many of whom are students. Hands raised showed that a number of Old Guard members are volunteers. Food is purchased, primarily from Mercer Street Friends. When asked about the future of Trenton, Micai said that “until there were more good jobs and a better education system, urban poverty would not turn around.” For more information, our speaker recommended reading In Plain Sight, the story of TASK which discussed hunger in America and the history of TASK. The meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Livingston
The invocation was led by George Hansen. The minutes of the January 23rd meeting were read with great clarity by Harvey Rothberg. J. B.Smith introduced his guest, Reeves Hicks. Bill Walker introduced his guest, Peter Wise. John Rassweiiler introduced his visitor, Nancy Hale. Approximately 90 members were in attendance.
Dick Hanson introduced our speaker, Dennis Micai, Executive Director of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, generally known as TASK. A social services professional for 37 years, Micai’s degrees are in criminal psychology and in public administration. Director Micai began by noting that with Peter Wise (the previous director of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) in the audience, he felt a bit like Phil Bengston. Who was Phil Bengston, you might ask, he said. Phil Bengston, for those who didn’t know, was the coach who followed Vince Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers. Addressing the question:
“Why do we need soup kitchens in this country today?” Mr. Micai described how with the loss of manufacturing jobs (in Trenton the potteries and General Motors, for example), and with the flight to the suburbs, most of the citizens living in urban areas such as Trenton are those with the lowest incomes and those who simply cannot earn a living. He referred to Loretta Schwartz Noble’s book Standing in the Shadow of Poverty for a more complete discussion of the reasons for such poverty.
After showing a short video on TASK, our speaker talked about the history, the mission, and the current activities of the Soup Kitchen. The initial impetus for TASK in the early 1980s was expressed by a small group of civic minded individuals led by Rev. Arthur Stanley who said that someone ought to help feed the hungry of Trenton, without cost to anyone truly in need. TASK’s first meals were served at the 1st Methodist Churchto 60 people. Because the church was in the center of town, business people soon objected, saying that a soup kitchen there was bad for business. Eventually the Soup Kitchen itself became homeless, and at one point people were serving meals from the back of a car. Trenton’s need for a soup kitchen eventually was recognized, however, and in 1987 TASK was offered the lease of some city land at $1 a year for 40 years. The first building took four years to construct; TASK is still at that site on Escher St. in Trenton.
The policy of TASK is “open door, unconditional service, no questions asked” of those who are served meals five days a week.
TASK has expanded to serve 175,000 meals currently per year (2007), nine meals a week at the main site on Escher St. in Trenton (where 800 meals were served last Tuesday because it was near the end of the month), and additional meals at two satellite sites, 30,000 meals in the south ward and starting this week at a location in the west ward.
TASK is a charitable, non-profit organization whose mission is to respond to the needs of people in the Trenton area by:
- providing meals to all those who are hungry;
- providing services to encourage self-sufficiency and improve quality of life,
- informing the wider community of the needs of the hungry, and
- advocating for resources to meet these needs.
Numerous questions elicited more information: the TASK budget is $1.7 million; it has a staff of 20 and 2000 volunteers, many of whom are students. Hands raised showed that a number of Old Guard members are volunteers. Food is purchased, primarily from Mercer Street Friends. When asked about the future of Trenton, Micai said that “until there were more good jobs and a better education system, urban poverty would not turn around.” For more information, our speaker recommended reading In Plain Sight, the story of TASK which discussed hunger in America and the history of TASK. The meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Livingston