North Shore Christian School students Annika Brink, left, and Rachel Brennan volunteering at My Brother’s Table.
By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — Eighth graders from North Shore Christian School are cooking up something nice at My Brother’s Table.
The student’s visited the soup kitchen at 98 Willow St. earlier this week to prepare and serve lunch to guests.
This week’s trip is the second the students have taken to serve My Brother’s Table, one of the largest soup kitchens on the North Shore. In December, the group joined a kindergarten class to distribute cookies and sing Christmas carols at the facility.
“This trip was different as it allowed us to really see behind the scenes,” said Jill Stutz, an eighth-grade teacher at the school. “Before, we came with our own food prepared and handed it out to the guests. This time, we were able to be a part of the process.”
The students arrived before lunch on Tuesday to help with preparation. While some children cleaned tables and chairs, others peeled carrots, sliced tomatoes and chopped cucumbers.
When the clients arrived, each student was assigned to a service station. Some students handed out sandwiches and snacks while others served soup, coffee or tea.
“The girls were quite the baristas as they became experts at adding cream and sugar to the coffee according to the guests requests,” Stutz said.
The students saw how efficiently the nonprofit is run and worked alongside regular volunteers to learn the ropes, she said. They helped serve lunch to more 100 guests.
“Several (guests) took the time to tell the students how thankful they were that they would come and help,” Stutz said.
As part of the school’s Branching Out program, each grade level chose to adopt an organization as its year-long outreach, said Priscilla Miro, the school’s admission director. The eighth-grade class selected My Brother’s Table.
The project gets students involved with doing different activities and service projects each week, Miro said.
“One of the reasons I am so thankful we can serve, is it gives the kids a chance to put others first,” Stutz said. “All around them they hear the message to look out for themselves and to think of what they want and what they need. Opportunities like this teach the kids that true greatness doesn’t come from focusing on themselves, it comes from serving others.”
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at bturcotte@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte