From the left David Hancock, Paul Ruddle, Sam McCord, Martha Yost and Bennie Byrd make up plates to serve in the Friendship Community Kitchen on Wednesday.

Moultrie’s soup kitchen served about 12 meals on its first night in January 2009. The community effort now feeds about 85 people every Wednesday at 6 p.m. at its new location at 1001 First Ave. S.W. between 10th and 11th streets.

And its organizers are hoping to eventually serve five nights a week if they can get the necessary volunteers.

The kitchen has operated as the Friendship Community Kitchen and is now merged with the Pathway to Heaven Outreach Center to form a non-profit organization that could expand services to homeless and at-risk persons. The kitchen primarily serves soup and sandwiches and desserts.

 The new facility would provide the necessary space for both the soup kitchen and emergency shelter space, according to Pathway Secretary Don Callaway. It also has air conditioning, bathrooms and handicap ramps.

Ten area churches and other volunteers are involved in a “community effort” that began at a table discussion about the hungry’s population in Moultrie, according to Sam McCord, Pathway treasurer and early organizer along with his wife Barbara. Seven locall pastors serve on the center’s board of directors. Olivia Ponder is Pathway president, and Lester Castellow is vice-president.

The kitchen had been operatiing in the old Kelly-Reeves building on West Central Avenue in cooperation with the Hope House and the Boys and Girls Club. The new facility is rented from the Community Action Council in a building prieviously occupied by Calvary Baptist Church that has been vacant for four years. Not including food costs, the kitchen’s monthly expenses are about $650. Callaway said. Churches, the Moultrie Lion’s Club and other service organizations and private donors help pay the bills.

Ten local churches serve the Wednesday night meals and rotate the duties. Food is not prepared on site, but is catered by the churches’ volunteers.

McCord said his wife “asked me what we would do if 50 people showed up.” They credit God with providing the means to accommodate the surge to 85 per night, which includes 15 to 25 children. The kids are treated to arts and crafts and a meeting.

The kitchen has “spiritual goals,” Callaway said, noting that a devotional precedes every meal.

“We work to offer hope and food for the needy. It is a ministry of love,” McCord said, adding that he welcomes any other churches, groups and individuals to partner with Pathway.

“We are changing lives,” said Barbara McCord. “God is actually changing the lives, we are helping.”

The hungry are not questioned about their circumstances when they show up at the soup kitchen.

“We don’t pry or ask a lot of questions. We are there for people who are hungry,” Callaway said.

McCord recalls a man who came in one night and did not eat. At the end of the meal he grabbed trash and emptied it. He said he had a job and just wanted to help. He said he felt love in the room when he walked in, McCord said.

“We need more churches and organizations to volunteer or provide support,” Callaway said.

Those interested can reach the McCords at 229-985-2174 and Callaway at 229-324-3596.