Slave Lake has its share of people who are unable to take care of themselves. Survival is a challenge for these often homeless members of the community, but survival is a bit easier this winter, thanks to the efforts of the Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army recently opened a six-day-a-week soup kitchen next door to its thrift store on 6th Ave. S.E. in Slave Lake. Called ‘King’s Kitchen,’ the facility is staffed entirely by volunteers and serves soup and sandwiches to all comers from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The kitchen was a hit right off the bat after its Oct. 3 opening.
“The first month we served about 20 people a day,” says Nancy Larocque, one of the main volunteers. “It’s a little slower now – about 14 a day.
That’s 14 individuals, not the number of visits, because some drop in for two meals a day.
Last Thursday evening the Salvation Army kicked off its Christmas Kettle fundraising campaign locally with a short ceremony at the kitchen. Capt. Patrick Bulloch came down from Peace River for the occasion, and was joined by a four-member Salvation Army band from Edmonton. Mayor Ray Stern dropped by to make the first donation and get the ball rolling.
Bulloch says that all the funds raised by the campaign in Slave Lake will go towards the operation of the soup kitchen.
“No money will leave this town,” he says.
The Salvation Army started operations in Slave Lake in 2001 with the opening of the thrift store. It employs a couple of people full time and one part time, with volunteers handling the rest. Bulloch says things have gone well, with the soup kitchen being another step in what the organization hopes is a trend of continued growth in its activities in Slave Lake.
“Our goal is to have a church here,” he says.
The soup kitchen itself resembles a church in some ways. There is Christian literature to read, and Bible quotations on the walls, and religious music plays. It’s very much in keeping with the Salvation Army mandate of providing for people’s spiritual needs as well as their physical ones. It’s a mission Larocque takes very seriously.
“My goal is to minister to people in a personal way,” she says. “People come not just for the soup. Sometimes they come because they want to pray, or to talk.”
The King’s Kitchen is staffed by volunteers from four Slave Lake churches. Larocque says donations of food come from “individuals from all the churches” in town.
More donations, of food or cash, are always welcome, she says.

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