Campus ministry’s Community Outreach of Villanova:
The soup kitchen experience
Betsy Ruf, ‘01

Villanova’s Campus Ministry, under the direction of Noreen Cameron, organizes a program called Community Outreach of Villanova (COV) that focuses on service to those who are disadvantaged by poverty. Included in this program are Streets Committee, St. Barnabas shelter for women and children, Catholic Worker Medical Clinic, Siloam AIDS Ministry, Saturday Habitat for Humanity, homework club tutoring program, and soup kitchens. Villanova students, faculty and staff volunteer at St. Agatha’s on Tuesdays and St. Francis Inn on Saturdays.

Villanova’s association with St. Francis Inn stretches back over 25 years. The Inn is run by a group of Franciscans, a Catholic order of priests and nuns who commit themselves to a life of poverty. Living like the poor, they do not own possessions, manage a soup kitchen, a women’s shelter, a food program and a ministry program. On Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Francis, Villanova volunteers treat each person like a guest at a restaurant. Once seated, volunteers take their guests’ orders, bring their meals, serve and pour their milk. St. Francis is, according to Cameron, "a way of life."

St. Agatha’s soup kitchen, which Villanova volunteers visit between 5 and 8 p.m. on Tuesdays, was initiated about seven years ago to compensate for an overabundance of students wanting to volunteer at St. Francis Inn. At St. Agatha’s, the food is prepared by volunteers and then served buffet style. Many of the patrons help out, whether it is in preparation, serving or clean up. Several Villanovans who regularly volunteer have become familiar with many of the clients who are no longer anonymous faces in the crowd. Organized by campus ministry volunteer Bill Pohlhaus each week, St. Agatha’s has several dedicated staff members who volunteer year round. During breaks, summers and when holidays fall on a Tuesday, these volunteers are ready to serve with a smile. Cathy McMahon, from the dean of students office, feels that her trips to St. Agatha’s provide a certain grounding that forces her to keep life and priorities in perspective. One worry of hers concerns the tables where patrons eat. Rickety and with protruding nails, she wants to find a way to repair or replace them with sturdy, safe furniture.

Both ministries provide food to clients in many and diverse situations-- the elderly, the poor, the working, the unemployed, drug addicts, and AIDS patients of every ethnic group. Everyone is welcome. Both ministries open eyes to new experiences and new people. Cameron treats her job as an opportunity to "encourage 18- to 22-year-old students to expose themselves to these environments." In doing this, she believes she is "educating people who will [someday] be in power, and who hopefully will never forget." Cameron sums up her mission: "If Villanova fulfills its responsibilities to its mission by making students come to serve and be responsible agents for those who have less than we do, we have done our job. This tiny little exposure of a soup kitchen is all about meeting people who are different and yet who are the same."