Volunteer Amy Gentry serves the noontime meal at The Master’s Table Soup Kitchen in downtown Augusta.
Amy Gentry pulls up to The Master’s Table Soup Kitchen on Saturday morning at 8:30. Instead of enjoying a leisurely weekend morning, she ties on an apron, pulls on gloves and starts preparing the noontime meal.
Amy set herself a goal of volunteering 100 hours with Golden Harvest Food Bank this year. She works at Bank of America, and once she has completed her 100 hours the company will donate to Golden Harvest through its employee matching program.
For Amy, volunteering means spreading joy to those who need it most. “If I can put a smile on one person’s face, I feel like I have done my job,” she says. “I love handing out drinks at the door because I am the first person they see, and if I can give them a smile and a warm welcome, I hope that smile goes a long way.”
What surprised her most about the soup kitchen is the number of young people who come for help. “We see a lot of teens and people in their early 20s, and children too. I hope to make a difference in some way in their lives through this one hot meal a day,” Amy explains.
She says serving at the soup kitchen is about being present and welcoming. “I think a lot of these people feel invisible, and that one smile and a ‘good morning’ could turn that around,” Amy says.
