A new soup kitchen launched by a local community service agency got a jump start this week thanks to a donation by a local restaurant.
Last week, the TLC Community Center announced plans to create a soup kitchen to serve those in need in Carter County, with hopes of serving the first meal on Tuesday, Jan. 24. On Monday evening, the Center received an unexpected surprise that allowed them to begin serving meals a week early, TLC Community Center Director Angie Odom said.
Bootleggers Backwoods Grill, located on Highway 321 in Hampton, donated food to sponsor the Center’s first meal served out of the soup kitchen. Odom said the donation was a pleasant surprise they had no idea was on its way.
“They just showed up at the Center Monday evening right before we closed and said ‘Here’s your food for tomorrow,’” Odom said of Joshua Soller and Elizabeth Pauley with Bootleggers. “We had planned to start next week but when they showed up I said ‘I guess we’re starting this week.’”
Bootleggers donated spaghetti, bread and soup for the first meal for the soup kitchen.
“I just believed it was the right thing to do,” Soller said of the decision to donate food for the soup kitchen. “Me, personally, I want to do more to get involved in the community. I think it’s something that needs to be done and it oftentimes can be overlooked.”
Soller said part of his vision when he started Bootleggers was to give back to the local community. He was inspired to start his own restaurant by his mother.
“My mom had cancer and I helped take care of her,” Soller said.
His mom inspired him to take a leap of faith to start the restaurant and has also inspired a desire to help others. Bootleggers recently hosted a weekend where the restaurant gave free food to those in need.
“We’re going to do some more things like that to help the community,” Soller said. “Not just homeless, but those with cancer and other things as well.”
Soller said he enjoyed getting to work with the TLC Community Center for their soup kitchen and looks forward to working with them again.
“I’m so glad I went to the TLC and met Angie,” Soller said. “What they’ve done and what they are doing is amazing. I knew I was in the right place the first time I met Angie and saw what they were doing.”
The TLC Community Center Soup Kitchen is now serving hot meals each Tuesday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. for dine-in only. The meals are free to anyone in the community.
The Center is also currently looking for volunteers for the program as well as local churches or civic organizations that would like to help out by sponsoring meals or making financial contributions. The Center will host a special meeting on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 6 p.m., for those interested in volunteering.
The TLC Community Center is located at 145 Judge Don Lewis Blvd. Suites 5-7, across from the National Guard Armory in Stoney Creek. For more information on the TLC Community Center or its programs, contact them at 423-543-4673 or check out their Facebook Page.
Bootleggers Backwoods Grill is located at 309 Highway 321 in Hampton near the Dollar General. Contact Bootleggers at 423-520-6328 or find them on Facebook.