Director Lou Sartor began the Children Empowerment Program nine years ago, calling it a leap of faith. This educational opportunity has been a blessing, she said.

“The children are so excited about it,” Sartor mused. “They are just smiling and smiling and smiling.”

Sartor said she enjoys doing about 30 minutes of Bible time after breakfast. “A few weeks ago, I talked about forgiveness.” She does it in a fun way, and she said the children have embraced it.

Several volunteers have stepped up through the years to help Sartor bring children closer to God. One of them is Patti Lanthier, former principal at St. Paul the Apostle School, who’s been helping for four years. Lanthier brought in her friends Debbie Daly, Tara Frech, Susan Kolek and Rita Acree this summer, and they are focusing on Genesis, taking the kids way back to the start of creation.

“We call it the jungle journey, but it’s based on Genesis,” Lanthier said of this summer’s Bible adventure. She is in charge of children 8 to 12 years old, and she is having a ball.

“They have been wonderful,” Lanthier said of her tweens. “Every week we have been studying the days of creation.”

The former principal encourages youngsters to imagine what sort of creatures they would place on earth if they created one.

“We’ve talked about what creation means, and they’ve had to go through five or six steps,” she said, including listing features and qualities of animals they would create. 

Then they are urged to blend the features of two animals. Where would they roam? What are their habits? What features do they have in adapting to their habitat?

Finally, the kids were prompted to mix the qualities of two animals and create their own beast. One big rule by Lanthier: No two kids can do the same animal. The children jumped at the Genesis challenge.

“I think it is a good sign that they’ve all cooperated, that they’ve all created something nice,” Lanthier said. “They are taking it seriously.”

Now, their created animal pictures are posted on the walls of the soup kitchen. Their art brings a lot of color and imagination to the dining hall. Perhaps these Genesis drawings will inspire those arriving for a meal to start talking about God.

It’s a conversation starter that could change lives — for the kids and for those who brought them here. Sartor and her helpers hope so. She said the soup kitchen is much more than a meal, and volunteers bring the place to life.

“They have shoes, clothes, fresh vegetables, all kinds of things. … It’s just an ongoing help in so many ways,” Lanthier added.

“We had a cotillion for the children in May,” Sartor explained, adding that on another summer day, the older kids went skating.

Now, the soup kitchen is building a playground, and Sartor hopes it will be ready soon. She said she can’t wait for it to open.

Meanwhile, she is looking down the road, gearing up for fall, winter and spring events next year. She knows that Lanthier and her friends will be there to help.

This past Easter, for instance, Lanthier and friends put together 300 Easter baskets, and they plan to do it again in 2025. Sartor said the soup kitchen will hand out 1,500 Easter baskets. The effort picks up speed throughout Lent, and Lanthier gets the ball rolling.

“We start giving them out on Good Friday,” Sartor added. “We give a basket to every child.”

Sartor, however, is not thinking that far ahead. She sees Thanksgiving just over the horizon, and she wants everybody to enjoy the chance to give thanks.

“For Thanksgiving, we prepare a meal for those who cannot come in and eat,” she said.

During Thanksgiving 2023, the soup kitchen scrambled. Sartor said folks called in from all over the county — Woodruff, Enoree, Inman and beyond — hoping for a hot meal.

“Thank God we had extra volunteers,” she expressed. “Thank God we could deliver to everybody. We delivered about 500 meals all over Spartanburg.”

She is expecting even more calls this year as the area continues exponential growth, and she sees that carrying into December. The soup kitchen is lining up the James Brothers for Christmas entertainment.

“They have been just wonderful,” Sartor said. “The James Brothers have won all kinds of awards for their ability to sing in harmony without music,” she added.

An a cappella Christmas duet should bring folks in and when they leave, the soup kitchen will offer socks, gloves and blankets to stave off winter’s cold. Yes, the Spartanburg Soup Kitchen is so much more than a meal; it’s a community. People know they have a place to go when life gets difficult. They know people will be there to help, even over the holidays.

Sartor said people started calling her early this past July 4 because they thought the soup kitchen would be closed.

Not only was it open, but it also served up ribs, potato salad and green beans — a perfect southern summer meal.

“Hunger never takes a holiday,” Sartor added.

The best thing from this summer was that the children journeying through Genesis didn’t wrap up their Bible studies until a bit before noon. Lanthier said when they leave, they get lunch to take with them. Perfect timing.

“It’s just a lot of love,” Sartor concluded.

And it’s another sign that God is with them, even when school’s out.