The Trenton Times published the following editorial on May 3, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Editorial: On TASK for 30 years – Trenton Area Soup Kitchen provides hope for homeless

By Times of Trenton Editorial Board 
on May 03, 2013 at 6:58 AM, updated May 03, 2013 at 6:59 AM

In the best of all possible worlds, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen would not be in business.

In an economy where hardworking individuals could earn enough to sustain their families, afford a decent place to live and honestly hope to see their children do better than they have, soup kitchens would be an anomaly.

But, as income inequality further widens the gap between the country’s richest and poorest — while opportunities for jobs paying a living wage continue to ebb — soup kitchens are here to stay.

For more than 30 years, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen has offered sustenance with a side of hope to the homeless, the working poor and all those temporarily down on their luck. Twice a day, TASK offers meals to anyone who is hungry, no questions asked.

Those meals can become an entrée to the array of other services TASK offers – including adult education, youth programs and the award-winning A-Team Artists of Trenton cooperative – and the social services run by the city, county and state.

“When they first come here we feed their belly,” says executive director Dennis Micai. “The next time they come, we start to feed their mind. By the end, we’re working on the whole person.”

The organization serves as one of the hubs of the support system for those in greatest need in Trenton and the region, along with the Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, Homefront and other dedicated groups.

At its various locations and with the help of 75 volunteers each day, TASK serves about 3,750 meals a week.

On any given day, about 1,000 homeless men, women and children are struggling to get by in Mercer County; Micai estimates a bit less than half of TASK’s patrons are in that category. Most, however, do have some income, just not enough, he says.

Those working poor would be among the 90 percent of U.S. earners whose incomes were beginning to erode before the recent Great Recession and even before the recession of the early ‘80s when TASK began.

While the wealthy are seeing their earnings rise – 8.2 percent from 2009 to 2011 for the top 1 percent – wages of the bottom 90 percent have continued to decline.

And, since 2007, the already gaping gulf in wealth between non-Hispanic white Americans and most minority groups has widened significantly, according to a new study from the Urban Institute.

Despite the dismal statistics, TASK continues the work it started three decades ago – to serve nutritious food to those in need while treating them with dignity and respect.

Those at TASK have made their sanctuary from the streets the best of what’s possible in an increasingly unjust world.