NORTHAMPTON — He retired after 17 years of cooking meals for those in need at a local soup kitchen, but Bob Saalfrank, 70, is not walking away from the community he helped foster any time soon.
“It’s a thrill to sit down and see other people that enjoy a meal that they (otherwise) don’t have,” Saalfrank said on Wednesday night.
MANNA Soup Kitchen provides free meals in the local community and, as of a month ago, Saalfrank was head chef for the nonprofit. In that time, he’s served nearly 15,000 meals a year as part of a job he said he will greatly miss.
In the basement of Edwards Church, Saalfrank served a spaghetti and meatball dinner to members of the community who have become dear friends of his. Even if his time as cook has come to a close, he will continue spending time as a volunteer when he can at the five meals served weekly by MANNA.
“It’s not just the food; it’s the friendship, the partnership of caring, and the bringing of people together,” he said. “It’s a combination of a lot of things.”
The soup kitchen served its first meal in 1986 at St. John’s Church on Elm Street, and Saalfrank said he attended that first serving during a difficult time in his life. MANNA helped him when he was “down and out” — suffering from a bad back injury while having to provide for his wife and four daughters — and he got the support from the soup kitchen when he needed it the most.
That Sunday meal began a journey spanning two decades, with Saalfrank becoming a program coordinator in 1991 and then head cook in 2001. His experience of being a military cook in the Vietnam War prepared him for making large meals for lots of people and it gave him the opportunity to “give back,” he said.
“I still have a lot of friends here that I care about and am saying goodbye to,” said Saalfrank. “I want to thank MANNA for everything. MANNA changed my life and put it back where it should be, helping other people as well. I hope it continues as long as we need it, and they haven’t seen the last of me.”
The longtime chef will be replaced by the soup kitchen’s treasurer, Lee Anderson, 58, who began volunteering in 2008. Anderson said he recognizes the difficulty for Saalfrank to step down from a role that helps provides hungry people with a healthy meal.
“The amount of gratitude that comes back from the people that we feed and from the volunteers that work with us is really rewarding,” Anderson said, noting that each meal typically serves 60 people.
He said the soup kitchen is beginning to “up our game” with a focus on using local resources for healthy meals that use fresh produce such as butternut squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. He gives a lot of credit to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts for being a “wonderful” resource.
“This initiative is something that we are trying now,” Anderson said. “How do you take MANNA from what it was to that next level of help to the community? It’s not just for the person who has no choice of a meal — you might have a choice, but I don’t want your choice to be rent or food. Let’s have a great community meal.”
MANNA serves meals at St. John’s Church on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and at Edwards Church on Wednesdays and Saturdays. All meals are served at noon, except Wednesday’s, which are served at 6 p.m.
Major renovations are underway at St. John’s for a new kitchen and dining area. Anderson believes they will be completed next April or May, and it will give visitors a new dining hall on the first floor rather than the basement where they currently eat.
The church has a “sweet spot” in their heart for MANNA, Anderson said.
The soup kitchen recently received a grant from the city to purchase a new van to pick up food from the food bank and supermarkets that donate food. They are hoping to get a sponsorship for the van to get the last few thousand dollars of the purchase.
He said the van should get rolling in the second half of August, and they are looking forward to getting one that can carry large pallets of food.
Additionally, Broadside Books has chosen MANNA as its nonprofit of the month and will feature books focusing on homelessness and hunger. A percentage of the proceeds will go to MANNA and a collection box at the register will be available for contributions to the soup kitchen.
Luis Fieldman can be reached at lfieldman@gazettenet.com