Pastor Deb Frysinger

The pastor of First Community Congregational Church at 200 E. Leeland heights Blvd. said today that she and the congregation are planning to open a soup kitchen at the church sometime in the new few weeks.

“Lehigh is truly in need of a soup kitchen, a place to go and get some hot food. Since the unfortunate closing of the food kitchen at the Methodist Church, there has been no place for hungry people to go and get something already cooked to eat,” said Pastor Deb Frysinger.

The church raises money through various fund-raising efforts throughout the year and also by passing “the bucket” around the congregation on the third Sunday of the month. It’s the church with the Pumpkin Patch every October.

“The money we collected from ‘the bucket’ goes to purchase food from the Harry Chapin Food Bank, which sells food at a lower price than it can be obtained in area food stores.

“I tell my congregation that if they see a penny, bend over and pick it up and put it in the bucket. If 100 people during the month see a penny and pick it up that means another dollar that can be dropped in the bucket,” she said. “If everyone in Lehigh picked up a penny, it would be a great amount of money to help others.“

Frysinger said there are those in her congregation who are in need of financial help to buy food and they give what they can afford when the bucked is passed around. They are good people who want to help others and yet they are in need themselves, she said.

The proposed soup kitchen will be once a week and organizer Ben Bendola is spearheading the project and getting help from those who operate the successful soup kitchen in Immokalee.

“This will truly be a soup kitchen with great nutritious soups,” she said.

It will be operated all by volunteers, most from her church.

Frysinger said there are less than 100 members of the church and many of them donate their services to help others. She said Bendola worked at the Our Daily Bread food kitchen at the Christ United Methodist before it closed.

She asked for donations and people who would like to help in the soup kitchen. If you’re interested, call her on her cell phone at 333-8574.

The First Community Congregational Church has one of the largest food banks in Lehigh. It serves between 1300 and 1500 families every month, she said. Anyone can come who needs food on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon. And while there, people can pick up bread.

“We give away between 140 and 150 loaves of bread a day. We give it out until it’s gone,” she said.

The bread is not stale and is usually dated that day to be sold from the store that donated it. The bread products come from Fort Myers. Frysinger asked one of the local supermarkets for bread products to hand out to the people of Lehigh but was told that corporate officials required them to send it out of town.

“People in Lehigh are in need. There are many who can’t buy enough groceries to last for a week,” she said.

Those who know Frysinger know she always has a new project in mind. Here is her latest one.

Frysinger, who believes in providing needy people with food as part of her ministry, said the church is also planning a free hot supper meal on the second Saturday during the summer months, starting Saturday.

“Everyone is welcome. The meal is free. We’ll be holding it June, July and August from 4 to 6 p.m. on a first come first served basis.

“When the food is gone, it’s gone,” she said.

The first supper is June 11 and the volunteers from the church will be serving spaghetti and garlic bread.

“The Lehigh community has a great need; there are so many people who are hungry. We come together as Christians to serve God’s people.

“We are very excited. We want to do God’s work. In addition to handing out food throughout the week, we are looking forward to these suppers,” she said.

In July, the meal will be rice, beans and chicken, and in August, they will be serving beefaroni.

“We would love all the help we can get – in donations and in volunteers,” she said.