March 9, 2002 – Soup's on again at Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church, but a recent burglary has left providers at the Saturday soup kitchen with a bitter aftertaste.
Several days after thieves worked their way through a metal bar securing a door off the courtyard of the historic downtown Charlotte Amalie church, Pastor Stephan Kienberger said he's thinking about adding an alarm system. "They broke in the door, they demolished the door and took away whatever they could carry," he said.
Break-ins were a way of life a few years ago at the soup kitchen, Kienberger said. A restoration grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funded some repairs that seemed to have solved the problem. But now, he said, there are concerns that the lastest break-in will enourage more. "The pressure's on from the community to put in an alarm system," he said.
Thieves made away with a microwave oven, knives, a coffee pot and cooking utensils. The supply of canned goods that is used to feed the regular crowd of homeless, seniors and poor families was left behind.
The Saturday soup kitchen is run by volunteers from a Frederick Church women's group. After the break-in, Kienberger said, the women resumed their routine of preparing dishes at home and bringing the food in to serve it. He speculated that some of the people who have benefitted from the free food program are the ones most likely to have committed the crime.
"It's quite evident that people we serve are the people who broke in, too, because they knew what they were going for," he said.
But church officials say while recent events have left them discouraged, they will continue serving the poor. It wouldn't be fair to punish the needy because of the actions of a few, the pastor said.
