Dear SoupFriends,
Greetings from the SoupMan!
The State of the Union is an Annual Address given by the President of the United States to the country every January. The President essentially reports on how he sees things going in our great country.
Well, it’s June and as Executive Director of the SoupMobile I thought you might be interested in a State of the Union address about the SoupMobile. The SoupMobile's Mission Statement is three simple words spoken by Jesus himself, "Feed MY Sheep." We do that in three separate distinct ways.
1. Feeding: We serve more than 200,000 meals per year to the homeless in the Dallas area.
2. Shelter: We shelter the homeless in our group housing called SoupMobile Village.
3. Christmas: Every year at Christmas we take 500 homeless men and women right off the streets and put them up for a magical Christmas at the downtown Dallas Hyatt Regency Hotel in our event called Celebrate Jesus.
Most recently, on May 1st we opened the 4th & 5th group homes in SoupMobile Village. So if you are paying attention you will see that I'm throwing a lot of numbers at you, i.e. 200,000 meals; 500 homeless; 5 group homes. Numbers! Numbers! Numbers! And by any measure some fairly substantial numbers!
But numbers are not what this State of the SoupMobile Union address is all about. We are NOT just about the numbers. We are about the people; the less fortunate people that Jesus called the 'least of these.' Oh sure, it’s nice to say that we serve an amazing 200,000 meals this year, and it’s exciting to let you know that in 18 short months we now have 5 groups homes up and operating in SoupMobile Village. And oh yeah, taking 500 homeless to the Hyatt for Christmas every year is pretty cool, but that's all numbers. At the SoupMobile I'd like to think we are all about the people not the numbers. People like:
- Jennifer G. When we found Jennifer she was going to be sleeping in her car with her beloved dog. After only two months in SoupMobile Village she had obtained a job and her own housing.
Thomas W. We found him a year ago living in an abandoned building. He had no hope and no prospects. Now he's a resident in SoupMobile Village, holds down a full time job as Head Chef at the SoupMobile, and is a shining beacon of light to those still out in the cold.
- Susan G. She was 48 hours from being evicted from her apartment. After just over a month in our group housing she got a job as a Nurses Aid with live in housing.
- Todd R. Living hand to mouth on the streets and sometimes staying in seedy motels he found housing in SoupMobile Village. Within 6 weeks he had been promoted to Annex Manager at the SoupMobile.
These people are NOT numbers or statistics. They are real live human beings; people who fell on hard times and needed a 'Hand Up' not a 'Hand Out.' The SoupMobile is all about the people. I think that's just the way Jesus would want us to be.
How about you? Are you about the numbers or about the people? I suspect if you are reading this blog it means you are all about the people.
P.S. How about you? Would you like to be part of a charity that is focused on people, not numbers? If so, simply go to www.soupmobile.org for more details. It will be life changing both for you and the people that you help.
May the Lord Bless & Keep You All.
Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan
