Christmas holiday doesn’t halt RIFA’s mission to serve others
JACKSON, Tenn. — Many places will change hours, or close up shop for Christmas. However, that is not the case for RIFA‘s soup kitchen.
Tiny, the kitchen manager, tells us what they are doing.
“It is just another day for us in the soup kitchen. We’re here everyday,” Tiny said. “So this week everybody’s been like, ‘hey Tiny are we closed this week?’ or ‘are you going to be open on Christmas?’ normal hours. We’re here just like normal.”
However, there is a small difference in how dinner is served this day. Instead of the normal line to go through, boxes will be given out. Tiny tells us about this.
“We have a group that is coming in that is providing dinner. They brought in turkey, ham, dressing, all the fixings. So, it is kind of a nice day. I get to chill and just be Santa Claus. I like just coming out and mingling,” said Tiny. “I get to a little more of that instead of food today, the food is covered.”
He also told us the importance of the soup kitchen. The goal is to not just serve food.
“Everybody gets a smile and a kind word. I tell everybody that the smile and a kind word goes farther than any amount of food will ever do. So we not only feed the body, in here we feed your soul and make sure that, especially on Christmas, you feel that you are family,” Tiny said.
The soup kitchen runs on donations, and Tiny says that it is always a blessing seeing the community get involved.
On average, they serve around 100 people per meal.
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