Open Door Service Center Inc., has a new home for its soup kitchen thanks to a donation from the Ditzfeld family.
The family is donating the building known as the Ditzfeld Center and the property located at 417 W. Pettis St. for the soup kitchen. Plans for the transfer began this week.
The soup kitchen is currently located in the fellowship hall of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, where Open Door has a year-long contract that began in October 2016.
Open Door had been actively raising funds for the soup kitchen project to purchase property near West Third Street and South Engineer Avenue. The property at this location would have amounted to $240,000. The $17,000 already raised will go toward building a 50-by-40-foot, 2,000-square-foot addition, and a state-approved kitchen at the Pettis Street location. The addition will be added to the existing 4,000-square-foot building.
Open Door President Bill Turner emphasized Thursday afternoon that the organization’s need for fundraising “still exists.”
“But it’s much less,” he noted.
The new building will allow all of the meal preparation to be done on location.
“We will have a kitchen that meets the state health department’s standards,” Open Door Executive Director Jack Menges noted.
“Duke Manufacturing has already stepped up and given us a great donation of commercial kitchen equipment,” Turner added. “Rob Rollings Architecture has donated all the time needed to make the idea into workable plans for construction.”
At present the Community Cafe serves evening meals at the West Pettis Street location and that will not change, Menges said.
“We have met with the Community Cafe and have assured them that we are going to help them,” he added. “They are going to continue to serve the evening meal just as they have been doing. There won’t be any changes with the Community Cafe. We really thank the Ditzfeld family for what they’ve done. We talked about it and we feel like it’s a good fit.”
Menges said people who live on the east side of Sedalia have expressed concern about not being able to eat at the new location due to transportation issues. There will be a remedy for that dilemma also.
“We will establish a feeding site on the east side of town,” Menges said.
Both Menges and Turner said they are still in the planning stages but hope to have the east side feeding site hosted at a local church.
“We will continue to serve those people, so they don’t get left out,” Menges said. “I’m sure we’ll pick up new people over in that location too. We will not skip meals with these people over here, they will not miss out on a meal.”
“We’ll be looking to partner with somebody,” Turner added.
The soup kitchen feeds a noon meal Monday through Friday to 30 to 70 people a day. Open Door hopes to increase that number with the new kitchen facility.
“As we change locations and try and provide a service on both sides of town, we expect that number is going to go up,” Turner said. “We’re trying to build this, not anything lavish, but build it smart so that we can expand as the service grows, and as demand grows. So, we’re building it to meet Missouri food code and to meet the capacity that we’ll probably run into.”
Both Menges and Turner are pleased the property on Pettis Street has enough room for the soup kitchen to grow.
“The big thing, is the building on Third Street you could not add one square foot to it,” Menges said. “This one, you could almost triple or quadruple the size of the building and still be on your property. The other big factor is parking. That has adequate parking over there … It opens up a whole new realm of thinking and possibilities down the line.”
Menges and Turner said they hope to break ground by late spring for the new kitchen and have it completed by early fall.
“This is a great opportunity for Open Door as we look to the future, we are now able to look with some vision that’s not blocked …” Turner said. “For an organization like ours that runs on a shoestring budget, that’s a freedom that you don’t often get to enjoy.”
The men are thankful for the Ditzfeld’s donation.
“It’s just a great thing the Ditzfeld family is doing,” Menges said.
“We really feel privileged because the Ditzfeld family has put over 20 years of their effort and finances and a lot of their tears into serving the community with their property,” Turner added. “Now they have left it to us to build upon that tradition and even go further.”
Open Door will continue to raise money for the new soup kitchen, and $143,000 is still needed for the project.
“We are going to be continuing to raise money for our regular services, so we’ve got to do this in addition to that,” Menges said.
Those that wish to donate may do so by going to www.opendoorservicecenter.org and pressing the “donate” button, then the “soup kitchen” button. Checks also may be sent to Open Door at 111 W. Sixth St. or one may call Jack Menges at 287-0207 or Bill Turner at 620-6225 and the men will pick up the donation. Menges said donations should be marked “Soup Kitchen” or “Feed the Hungry.” All donations are tax deductible.
