Laura Stricker

Queen’s University student groups have joined together to bring food to the homeless.
Soul Food was initiated by a group of Hillel students after they attended a conference held in Kingston by the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students.
“We wanted to do something in our own backyard,” said Sheri Krell, the co-chair of Soul Food. “I always see a lot of people walking along Princess Street [the main street in Kingston] who are clearly homeless.”
Soul Food’s mission is to deliver hot meals to the Street Truck Mission and different homeless shelters. Street Truck Mission is a volunteer organization that provides people with a place to warm up in during the cold fall and winter months.
“We heard about the Street Truck Mission through our research,” Krell said. “When we went to visit the Truck, we saw all they had to eat in there was hot water and crackers.”
A challenge they immediately faced was figuring out where to get food from. The answer came from Sodexho, the supplier for the Queen’s cafeterias.
At the end of the day, there are always leftovers, and it made sense to give them to those who need them instead of throwing them out, Krell said.
“For us it just cafeteria food, but for them it’s a good, fresh meal,” said Tyler Peikes, who co-chairs Soul Food with Krell.
“[There are] anywhere between five and 50 meals left over each night - that may not seem like a lot, but for people in need it makes a big difference,” Krell said.
After two successful trial runs last spring, Soul Food officially kicked off in October, delivering meals seven days a week.
Realizing they needed more volunteers, Krell and Peikes turned to other student groups at Queens for help. Seven responded, and now Hillel shares delivery duties with the Muslim Students Association, Students Helping Others Understand Tolerance, Students Against Indifference, Asian Focus, the United Way and volunteer crew of the Alma Mater Society’s Municipal Affairs Commission, the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society and students from a gender and poverty class.
“We all have the same shared values, so why not work together?” Krell said.
“We’re really building bridges,” Peikes added. “[The same] values are shared between all these groups - it’s amazing.
“I’m really excited for the possibilities.”