“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
This citation from the Book of Matthew reflects a core principle of Christian charity and the guiding light for Operation Compassion, the community soup kitchen based in San Antonio Tlayacapan that dishes out free meals to people in need.
Founded in February 2010 by Tom Music and Rich Bailey, the feeding program currently operates Monday through Friday, serving up hot lunches from 1 to 3 p.m. to 60 to 80 walk-in diners and delivering carry-out meals to and 35 home-bound families. It is housed at the San Antonio community center located at Jesus Garcia 4, a half-block south of the highway.
The program caters to children, teens and adults who suffer hunger and impoverishment due to unemployment, infirmity, broken homes and other kinds of hardship. No one is ever turned away or questioned about their need for free food. And while run under the maxims of Christian faith, preaching and proselytizing are not on the menu.
Many of the youngsters stop into the soup kitchen on their way home from school for the only complete meal they will get on a given day. Deliveries go out to homes such as that of an elderly village woman who single-handedly cares for eight grandchildren, and a young boy and his unemployed widower father who lost a leg to diabetes.
Music, a Kentucky native who put down roots at lakeside five and a half years ago, has spearheaded Operation Compassion since Bailey’s sudden death a few months after the project got off the ground. He keeps things going on a shoestring budget with the help of a band of 26 loyal volunteers, private donors and support from various local churches, non-profit groups and restaurants and grocery businesses.
Hired cook Lupita Romero, the program’s sole paid employee, prepares hardy nourishing meals made with basic food stuffs such as beans, lentils, rice, pasta, fresh vegetables and chicken. A huge vat of chicken vegetable soup, accompanied by a rice or pasta side dish, a pot of legumes, bakery bread, tortillas and a dish of spicy salsa, is the standard daily fare. The most usual beverage is agua de jamaica, a refreshing drink made from hibiscus flowers.
The project depends entirely upon donations in cash and kind for all its food supplies and operating expenses.
Later this month Operation Compassion and Lakeside Presbyterian Church will co-host a Christmas party for kids who dine regularly at the soup kitchen.
For details about jumping on the soup kitchen bandwagon visit the site or contact Music at (cel) 331-547-2726 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..