Look what YOU'VE done!

Dear SoupFriends:

Texas is a big state and is known for doing things in a big way. In that tradition the SoupMobile has a big number to report to you. We just served our 750,000^th meal. Yes, you heard right---since its inception in 2003, the SoupMobile has now served over three quarters of a million meals. Even by Texas standards that’s a huge number!

In the SoupMobile’s first year of operation in 2003 we served 5,000 meals. At the time we thought it was a lot. Every year since, our feeding numbers have dramatically increased. You might be wondering who gets the credit for the SoupMobile serving 750,000 meals. First, on a heavenly scale we give thanks to the Lord. It was his son Jesus who said “Feed My Sheep.’ We’ve noticed that when HE gives you a mission HE also gives you the means to fulfill that mission. Second, on an earthly scale we give thanks to YOU---yes YOU! At the SoupMobile we are surrounded by an army of friends, supporters, volunteers, donors and prayer warriors. YOU are the reason we have served more than 750,000 hot, hearty and nutritious meals to the ones Jesus called the ‘least of these.’

As you know the SoupMobile doesn’t just serve food. We also shelter the homeless in SoupMobile Village. The Village is a series of group homes located right here in the Dallas area. Each home designed to take a homeless man or woman right off the streets, put a roof over their heads, clean them up, get them a job and return them as productive working members of society. It’s a ‘Hand Up’, not a ‘Hand Out.’ And who gets the credit for SoupMobile Village. Yes, you guessed it. God first and then YOU! Yes YOU again!

Of course the SoupMobile doesn’t just stop with Feeding and Sheltering the homeless. Every Christmas we take 500 homeless men and women right off the streets and put them up at the downtown Dallas Hyatt Regency Hotel in an event called CELEBRATE JESUS.
They all receive new clothes, fabulous gifts, lots of love and we hold a huge banquet in their honor. Most important is that when they wake up on Christmas morning it’s not in a cardboard box under some bridge but in a warm safe bed at the Hyatt. And who gets the credit for this amazing Christmas we give to the homeless each year. Yep, still the same answer---God first and then YOU!

Sometimes in the whirlwind of serving the homeless we don’t get a chance to thank you enough for your help. But let’s face it! YOU are the true heart and soul of the SoupMobile. YOU, our faithful friends, supporters, volunteers, donors and prayer warriors. So in case we haven’t said it loud enough and clear enough---THANK YOU from the SoupMan and his fabulous SoupTeam for your faithful support. Together we are reaching deep into the heart of the homeless community! Together we are making a real difference in this world! Together we are making a difference for Christ!

May the Lord Bless & Keep You All.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

We can Talk the Talk---but can we Walk the Walk!!!

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

I just finished reading a book titled: Under the Overpass---by Mike Yankoski. It’s a story of two upper-middle class young men who decided to leave their safe and comfortable existence and live life homeless on the streets of America. For five months the pair experienced firsthand the extreme pains of hunger, the constant danger of living on the streets, exhaustion, depression and social rejection---all by their own choice.

I believe that God was sending me a message through this book. The book itself puts a spotlight on the incredible hardships the homeless face every day. Issues like getting enough food, staying safe in a dangerous world, surviving the heat of summer and the cold of winter and being treated like dirt—just because they are homeless.

So you might be wondering what message could God be sending the SoupMan through this book? After all, for the last eight years I’ve devoted my life, my very being to caring for the homeless. Along with an army of friends, donors, supporters and prayer warriors we serve on the front lines in the war against hunger in the Dallas area. We give the homeless clothing, food, shelter and lots of love. The things that Mike talked about in his book were very familiar to me. Nonetheless, I believe God was sending me a powerful message with this book. HE was saying, ‘SoupMan, it’s time to up your game.’

One of the recurring themes in the book was how so called ‘Christian’ people went to church every Sunday and ‘Talked the Talk’ but did NOT ‘Walk the Walk.’ Mike & Sam made it a point to go to church every Sunday for the five months that they lived life homeless on the streets. At many of the churches they felt isolated because of how they looked, smelled and who people perceived them to be. At one church they asked the Pastor for food and he responded by saying, “That’s not what we do.” At another church a sign hung over the mahogany double doors that said in big red letters: ‘No Loitering--- Church Business Only—Police Enforced.’ Even worse Mike & Sam were treated like pond scum on the streets by some (not all) of these same so called men and women of God. I can’t believe Jesus is smiling about all of this.

The Bible says, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ Mike & Sam found out first hand that many people know those words but don’t practice them. Now some of you might be saying, ‘Hey SoupMan, you and your supporters certainly aren’t part of that crowd---after all you do so much for the homeless.’ True enough, we do a lot for the homeless but I believe God was telling me through this book that we are not doing enough. The Bible says that to “Whom much is given, much is required.”

God is telling us all to ‘up our game.’ Not just ‘Talk the Talk’ but ‘Walk the Walk.’ I put myself at the top of this list. I need to do more for the homeless. I need to do more for reaching out to the one’s Jesus called the least of these. I need to ‘up my game’ for Christ. As part of my commitment to ‘up my game’ I am redoubling my efforts to find a way to start SoupMobile Diner.

The Diner will NOT be a soupkitchen. It will be a regular restaurant that serves quality lunches to the business people and residents of the community. All the while it will be employing and training homeless men and women in the art of restaurant operations like cooking, customer service skills, restaurant management, food inventory management and cash handling. SoupMobile Diner will be a training ground for our homeless men and women to acquire skills and then move on as productive working members of the community. It will be giving a ‘Hand UP’, not a “Hand Out.’

In the last eight years the SoupMobile has done a lot for the homeless but we can’t sit on our laurels. We must do more for the Kingdom. Are you with me? Will you join me by ‘upping your own game.’ I need financial help starting SoupMobile Diner. I’m looking for a donor(s) with deep pockets and an even deeper heart for Christ. If that’s you, contact me directly at david@soupmobile.org or call me at 1-800-375-5022. Let’s ‘up our game’ together!

May the Lord Bless & Keep You All.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

IT WAS ALL HE HAD TO GIVE!!!

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

It's February 2011 and I'm still thinking about Christmas 2010. Something extraordinary happened at our 2010 Celebrate Jesus Christmas event that touched me very deeply. As you know, ever year the SoupMobile takes 500 (YES 500) homeless men and women right off the streets of Dallas and puts them up at the downtown Dallas Hyatt Regency Hotel for Christmas. They all receive new clothes, fabulous gifts, lots of love and we hold a huge banquet in their honor.

Most important is that when they wake up on Christmas morning it's in a warm safe bed at the Hyatt---NOT in a cardboard box under some bridge.

It was truly a magical Christmas for both our 500 homeless guests and the more than 1,500 volunteers that attended. As usual, our own Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert came in his tuxedo, rolled up his sleeves and led the serving of food to our homeless guests at the banquet. A special musical performance by the world famous VOCAL MAJORITY CHOIR made the banquet even more special for our homeless men and women. Lon Ricker, the Chairman of the Celebrate Jesus Christmas event received special kudos from the Mayor for making it a truly unforgettable Christmas for the homeless of Dallas.

As special as all of the above was, something happened at the very end of the event that I will remember for the rest of my life. Each year at the end of the event when our homeless guests are leaving, I stand at the hotel exit door and personally thank each and every one of them for coming, give them all a hug and wish them a Merry Christmas. As you can well imagine I hear a lot of grateful thanks from these homeless men & women for the magical Christmas they have just experienced. However this year was different. In addition to the normal thank you's, one homeless man gave me something I will never forget.

He was one of the last of our guests to leave the hotel. Like all the others I reached out to shake his hand and give him a hug. As I was shaking his hand he pressed something into my hand, drew me close for a bear like hug and whispered in my ear "SoupMan, this is all I have to give but I want you to have it." In a thousand years you will never guess what he pressed into my hand. As he walked out of the hotel I looked down in my hand and there was a Crucifix---with a gold plated image of Jesus hanging from the cross. I was stunned. Here was a man with virtually nothing to his name, yet he gave me the one thing 'HE HAD TO GIVE.'---a Cross of Jesus.

Every year I am approached by family, friends and supporters and asked what gift I would like for Christmas. I always respond by saying that I already have my gift---which is the privilege and honor of 'Feeding HIS Sheep.' However it seemed God wanted me to have a gift that would last a lifetime. This gift of the Crucifix is by far the best gift I have ever received. This man had nothing, yet he gave me ALL HE HAD TO GIVE. I promise you that I am not worthy of such a gift but I am so very grateful. A man with nothing to give except the love of Jesus and he gave it to me. I am truly humbled.

How about you? Would you like your own special gift? Christmas 2011 is more than 10 months away but you can volunteer at the SoupMobile right now. I can't promise you exactly what gift the Lord will send your way but I can promise you that it will be very special. And if it's even half as special as the gift of the Cross I received, you will be very blessed. For more details about volunteering with the SoupMan & his fabulous SoupTeam simply go to www.soupmobile.org and click on VOLUNTEER. Also please give prayerful consideration to making a financial donation to help us 'Feed HIS Sheep.'

May the Lord Bless & Keep You All.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

WE NEVER CLOSE!!!

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

Last week was very difficult for many Dallasites and even harder on the homeless. On Tuesday a major cold front came in along with freezing rain and snow. Literally overnight streets and highways were turned into a quagmire of ice and slush. Many businesses and non-profit charities quickly shut down for the entire week. Somehow the SoupMobile managed to stay open. It wasn't easy but we kept our services to the homeless flowing. Our motto is WE NEVER CLOSE!

It's not that we are better than anyone else. WE ARE NOT! It's more that we believe that when the weather turns bad it's even more crucial that we continue to feed, shelter and provide warm clothing to our homeless men and women in the Dallas area. The more fierce the weather the more difficult it is for the homeless to survive. Imagine living in a cardboard box under a bridge with wind chills hovering close to zero and no help in sight. Compounding their plight is that many homeless service providers did close down for the week making life even more difficult for the homeless.

When the harsh weather hit on Tuesday morning one of our supporters asked me (with great skepticism) if we were going to feed the homeless that day. My response was "I guarantee that we will feed today AND throughout the entire week." He followed up by saying the roads may be impassible and our mobile feeding vans may not be able to get to the homeless. I answered and said we would carry the food in on dog sleds if necessary. He laughed at what he thought was the absurdity of my statement. I wasn't kidding. The SoupMobile was going to do what ever it took to keep feeding and helping the homeless. Failure is NOT an option! The ones that Jesus called the “least of these” desperately needed hot food, blankets and warm clothing and the SoupMobile was committed to making sure they got it.

How did we do it? Well the key word is “WE”. It was a total team effort. We did NOT require or ask any of our staff to come in last week. The roads were in terrible shape and we were of course concerned for everyone's safety. However my core staff came in anyway. I did not ask them to come in, nor did I even hint that they should come in. They came in on their own. One by one they showed up every day. Sometimes it took hours for them to make the commute as they drove their vehicles at less than 20 miles per hour to stay safe on their journey. Some came by bus and that in itself was quite an ordeal as the bus lines ran quite sporadically. One of my staff took the bus on Wednesday but could get no closer than 3 miles from our headquarters. He walked the rest of the way. Failure was NOT an option for him!

On Thursday the SoupMobile did double duty. With bitter cold temperatures and icy road conditions, a major apartment fire hit a complex on Melody Lane. The SoupMobile called a Code Blue Alert and sent a team to partner with the Red Cross in distributing hot food, blankets, warm clothes and lots of love to the residents who were displaced by the fire. And even though we were stretched doubly thin that day with our normal feeding operation and helping the fire victims, not one of my staff complained, said this
was unfair, or that this was too much. They simply rose to the occasion and got the job done. Failure was NOT an option!

At the SoupMobile my title may be Executive Director, but I don't have to lead my people. They lead themselves! I consider it a privilege to work shoulder to shoulder with them in “Feeding HIS Sheep.” You know you have a great staff when you don't have to tell them what to do---they do it all on their own. At the SoupMobile my people don't consider what they do as a job---they consider it to be their passion. And when it is your passion you find ways to get the job done---even when half the State of Texas is shut down!

I want to give special thanks to Doug & Jenine Guffey of Sleep Inc of Corsicana, Texas. On Tuesday morning, with the ice storm hitting hard, they sent a semi-truckload of blankets to the SoupMobile. How their driver got through to us was a miracle in itself. Those blankets turned out to be a life saver for hundreds of homeless men and women.

Of course we give the ultimate thanks to the Lord. He kept the entire SoupMobile staff safe all week. Not one car accident, not one vehicle breakdown, not one slip and fall on the ice and not one injury. God knew that WE NEVER CLOSE and he made sure we stayed safe during one of the most dangerous winter weather storms we have had in years. My grateful thanks to all my friends and supporters who were praying for us all week long. God heard your prayers and he kept us safe. Praise the Lord!


May the Lord Bless & Keep You All.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

LADY WITH A BIG HEART!!!

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

I met a young lady this week with a big heart. Her name is Lisa Robison and she is the Founder & President of a local Dallas non-profit called 'Dwell with Dignity' (DWD).

A few years ago as Lisa was approaching her 40th birthday, her husband asked her what she wanted as a gift. After much thought she decided that she didn't want anything for herself. What she did want was a 'venue' to give to the less fortunate in our community.

So after much thought and prayer she came up with the idea of 'Dwell with Dignity---a non-profit dedicated to designing and furnishing home interiors for families escaping poverty and homelessness. Imagine if you will, a homeless family finally being able to move into their own housing. However that's only half the battle. Typically they would be moving into a barren space without any furniture, appliances, bedding or kitchen ware. That's where Lisa and DWD ride to the rescue. They come in and take an empty space and transform it into a comfortable, warm and loving space---a real home. How does Lisa and her fabulous team know they are doing good. They need only look at the smiles on the faces of the incoming families and the tears in their eyes as the new homeowners see the incredible transformation DWD has made in their new home.

However that's not the end of the story. In fact its only the beginning. You see, Lisa started DWD on a wing and a lot of prayers. Armed only with a little seed money from her husband and a lot of prayers Lisa and DWD have come light years in the last 24 months. They have done so well that they are booked up for home makeovers for the coming year. Therein lies the rub. It take money to make it all happen. And while people from all over the Dallas area have been incredibly generous in donating home furnishings, cash is what really makes it all work.

I want to encourage my readers to reach out to Lisa and DWD with both furnishings AND monies. I can speak from experience here. You need money to run a non-profit. Good works don't come free. I'm asking you to give prayer consideration to partnering with Lisa and DWD in a monetary way. I'm not asking you to give to her sacrificially. I'm asking you to give to her out of your abundance. Lisa is making a difference! You too can make a difference by partnering with her in this wonderful cause. Visit the DWD website for more details on how to contact Lisa and how to help. http://www.dwellwithdignity.org/Contact.html

Did I mention that Lisa is a LADY WITH A BIG HEART!

May the Lord Bless & Keep You All.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

BABY, ITS COLD OUTSIDE!!!

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

In case you haven't noticed, 'Baby, it's cold outside!!!' A cold arctic blast has hit the Dallas area. Winds chills in the teens and not a lot of sunshine. For most of us regular folk it's only a minor inconvenience. We sashay from our heated homes to our heated cars to our heated offices. Oh yeah, we have to brave the cold as we transfer from one heated place to another but all in all we do pretty well each winter.

However, if you are a homeless man or woman (yes, there are many homeless women out there) it's not so easy getting through the winter. Imagine sleeping in a cardboard box under an expressway with temperatures below freezing and the wind ripping through your encampment. I recently had a speaking engagement about homelessness at an affluent church in Dallas. One of the audience members remarked to me, "Well they (the homeless) should just stay in a shelter if they want to keep warm." Au contraire" I responded---for you regular folk that means 'that dog don't hunt'---and if you want to hear it in pure SoupMan soupspeak it means---NO WAY.

Its estimated that there are 10,000 homeless in the Dallas area but that only about 2,000 shelter beds are available on any given night. Simple math tells us there is not enough 'Room at the Inn.' Just last night I drove by one of the major shelters in Dallas and outside sleeping on the cold sidewalk were at least 25 homeless people. Yes, they were sleeping 'outside' the shelter---there was not enough 'room at the inn.'

Okay, so now you know what the problem is--- too many homeless and not enough shelter beds. So what's the solution you might ask? Well on a ground level basis we need to try to help the ones that are sleeping out in the cold every night. They need warm coats, blankets, gloves and hats. Recently I put out a 'Code Blue' Weather Alert and asked for donations of warm weather gear. I'm pleased to say that the response was fantastic. Friends, donors and supporters stepped up to the plate and donated some much need warm weather gear. However winter has a long way to go and the SoupMobile needs more---particularly warm winter coats. Got coats??? Email the SoupMan at david@soupmobile.org.

On a more advanced level the solution to thousands of homeless people not being able to get 'room at the inn' is more shelter beds. The SoupMobile is also working hard on that front. In 2009 we opened up SoupMobile Village---a series of group homes designed to take a homeless man or women off the streets, put a roof over their heads, clean then up, get them a job and return them as productive 'working' members of society. It's a 'Hand Up' not a 'Hand Out.'

And lets not forget the number one thing homeless people need---Love!!! Yep, you heard me right---the number one thing they need is Love---specifically the love of Jesus. We have to love our homeless men and women. The way I do it is to imagine that one of them may just be Jesus. And hey---if you knew it was Jesus standing out there in the cold, you would move heaven and earth to help him. Well, whether it's Jesus or not, these homeless men and women are his precious children. Lets give them love, compassion, caring and shelter. How can you do that? Simple, join the SoupMan and his fabulous SoupTeam as we reach out in love to the ones Jesus called the 'least of these.' For more information on how to be part of our amazing mission, go to www.soupmobile.org. Be prepared to change lives and be prepared for your own life to change.

Baby, It's Cold Outside---and you can do something about it.

May the Lord Bless & Keep You,

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

The SoupMan, Executive Director of the Year???

Hello, my name is Lon Ricker and I’m the Director of Development at the SoupMobile. That’s just a fancy title for saying that I do everything I can to raise the money to support what often seems like outrageous ideas of the SoupMan. It also means that I have passwords to, among other things, his blog site, and today I decided to “take over” and talk about him, the SoupMan (a.k.a., David Timothy).

When I transitioned from stirring spaghetti on Wednesdays to writing grants and other fundraising activities (such as the Celebrate Jesus Christmas event), a few of the other “office workers” quietly lobbied me to “fix” the SoupMan. “He uses too many exclamation points” and “Sometimes he doesn’t use the correct grammar” and “You CAN’T buy personalized license plates for a vehicle you don’t even own yet!” were some of the things that people tried to convince me needed to be fixed. To say the SoupMan is unconventional is a bit of an understatement. (I mean, how many people have the nerve to put a One Million Dollar button on the Donation page of their website? http://soupmobile.org/component/content/article/129)

Face it, David became the Executive Director of the SoupMobile because he STARTED the SoupMobile. Its not because he has a wall full of degrees and credentials. And its not because he had experience running mega-bagillion dollar capital campaigns. And its not even because he climbed the ladder of leadership at other nonprofits. No, its because God put into his heart to feed and shelter the homeless and he’s darn good at it.

You see, when the SoupMan gets an idea of how to help the ones Jesus called the ‘least of these’, he not only throws conventional wisdom aside, but he pretty much ignores it. Don’t get me wrong, he is NOT some loose cannon running around doing crazy things with no thought given. Rather he doesn’t know the word ‘impossible’ and he won’t accept the attitude of “but you’ve never done it before” as reason for not doing it anyway. Like the bumblebee that aerodynamically should not be able to fly, David accomplishes all that he does because “no one told him he can’t fly”.

SoupMobile Village is just one example of people trying to convince David that he should “stick with what he knows best (feeding)” and leave housing the homeless to those with experience. Well, in less than a year we have 3 (THREE!) SoupMobile Village homes up and running and just received notice that funding is on the way for the FOURTH! Ummm, Mr. BumbleBee….ah, never mind you’re already working on SoupMobile Diner.

I can tell you this, I’ve actually had grant requests denied because we don’t follow ALL of the conventions for a “normal” nonprofit agency. It drives me crazy because some of these large foundations look more at “structure” than they do at what we are actually accomplishing. They don’t seem to take notice that nearly 80 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to our mission to “Feed HIS Sheep”. They seem to ignore the fact that for the 7 years that David has been the Executive Director of the SoupMobile, his salary has averaged less than $13,000 per year! (Come to think of it, maybe he’s the Executive Director because no one else WANTS the job.)

Well folks, I’m happy to tell you that has all changed! That’s right; David is not the Executive Director of the SoupMobile because of his credentials. He’s the Executive Director of this growing agency because he is good at it! Because he has a passion for it!!! And BECAUSE of what he has accomplished with his unconventional ways!!!!! (Exclamation points and all!)

And at their 10^th Anniversary Night of Light ceremony, the Center for Nonprofit Management crowned The SoupMan as Executive Director of the Year!!!

And in true SoupMan style, when they made the announcement, and cranked up the Rocky Theme Song, he RAN up to the stage with the enthusiasm and spirit of a man that doesn’t live by conventional wisdom. His ‘style’ of shaping and growing the SoupMobile into what it has become today was affirmed on that night. You don’t have to sit behind a big mahogany desk (we occasionally move the mop bucket out of his office if he’s expecting a guest) or follow some “Roberts Rules of Order” to be acknowledged for the work you are doing. David will often say “if you are doing God’s work, He will help you accomplish it”.

Well, I should probably turn the password to his blog back over to him, but I thought you should know that this unconventional, even a bit quirky man that we know as the "SoupMan" has finally been recognized and validated by his peers. As for me, I’m just proud to call him Friend.

God bless,

Lon