The Soup Bowl’s ultimate dream: Drop-in centre going strong

By Fathima Riznaz Hafi

The Soup Bowl was launched by a team of three friends in 2014 with a mission to feed the poor and bring happiness through entertainment to lonely people in Elders’ and Children’s Homes.

The Weekend FT had interviewed The Soup Bowl team last year and learnt about their noble mission and also the goals they had set to accomplish in the future. They were already carrying out some of their initial plans, which included monthly visits to Elders’ Homes and Children’s Homes to provide them with a day of fun-filled activities and food, feeding street people and also running their delivery arm WeGiveStuffAway (WGSA) where they drop off food to needy families who have been nominated by people they know.

Their ultimate goal and dream was to start their own Drop-In centre where the poor can just stop over and have a sit-down meal served with love, in a homely atmosphere. It would serve as a hangout where people could relax, mingle and eat. This was an idea that was pitched but they hadn’t figured out how they were going to go about it.

One year on we caught up with the team to get an update on what they’ve been up to lately and if they were able to reach their goals. We were especially eager to find out whether their dream of starting a Drop-In centre had come true as it was a lovely concept but not something that can be easily achieved. We were thrilled to find out that they have indeed started it and that it’s been going really well. 

The Soup Bowl Founder Rishani Sittampalam filled us in on the updates. 

Monthly reaches and WGSA

“The Soup Bowl has evolved from when you wrote about us last. Our signature monthly reaches to elderly homes and orphanages are the only events that remain the same and are carried out like clockwork thanks to Erandi and Jamie and our very new addition to the team Pasan,” she said.

“In May and June this year we were joined by a corporate organisation who wanted The Soup Bowl (TSB) to design their Corporate Social Responsibility projects. This acted as a great opportunity for us to get the working communities involved in needy elders’ and children’s lives.

“Our delivering arm WeGiveStuffAway (WGSA) which used to work on a nomination basis has transitioned to daily deliveries. We deliver vegetables and fruits, worth more than Rs. 5,000 to elderly homes, orphanages and underprivileged families who come for our lunches at the Drop-In centre. When we shared the vision about WGSA, God placed us in the right place at the right time; the right people came along to help us.”

Drop In Centre

“We are very thankful to God that He’s opened doors that we were only thinking about last year when we spoke with you. We were hoping for a place where we could provide a meal and we have got that. The Drop In centre started in September last year, when Reverend Angleena Keizer of the Kollupitiya Methodist Church gave us the space we needed when we proposed this project to her,” she said.

The Drop In centre has people coming over for lunch every Friday 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. to Scott Hall of the Kollupitiya Methodist Church, for that free sit-down meal, served with love. It is open to anyone in need of a meal, some fellowship and even prayer. 

There are little children as young as four years who spend time with their parents after lunch. 

You can help by sponsoring either 60 or 80 lunches. 60 packets of lunch cost Rs. 9,000 or you can sponsor 80 packets at Rs. 12,000. If you have dry rations and non-perishable food items, you can drop them off too as there are families who take home some of the leftover lunch packets and they’d benefit with other items too. The Drop In centre has close to 30 regulars who come by for these lunches. They are mostly elderly men who work in and around Colombo; some of them are street cleaners.

Alternately people who would like to occupy their time with an activity or a craft can do so by volunteering at the centre. A regular visitor is a young differently-abled girl who learns some handwork after she has lunch there. Her teacher volunteers her time at the centre. Volunteers also conduct spoken English classes for the adults who drop by. 

Anyone can volunteer at the Drop-In centre. People who’d like to volunteer and are hesitant because they’ve never done this kind of thing before should note that those who are presently teaching at the centre have never taught a day in their lives before this but are still giving it a go so that someone at the Drop-In centre would benefit. 

How to help?

“In our ideal world, we would like our piggy bank to always have enough for all our reaches. So if your readers are looking for a place to donate to, The Soup Bowl has three different projects – the monthly events, the weekly event and the daily reaches; we would like people who would volunteer to drive us. 

“On the other hand, it is always nice when people come by to volunteer their time. On our regular monthly reaches we have had an amazing show of hands, so much so that it is quite humbling to see different people who sometimes are complete strangers wanting to spend their time volunteering for us,” she said.

“If you are a retired person – the Drop In centre (the weekly reach) is a great place to while away time. If you like to cook yummies, there are families who’d definitely benefit from this. If you have some motherly and fatherly love to show and give, the Drop In centre is where you could reach out and give to a group of people who need it,” she added.

The Soup Bowl can be reached through their Facebook page where they also post updates on their activities and needs, for people who want to pitch in. If there is money, food or time that can be spared, directing it to the needy would be greatly appreciated.