Operating a soup kitchen can be very challenging, but it is also replete with daily rewards as you do your part to help alleviate the pain and indignity of hunger. Mission Possible should be required reading for any person or group desiring to start a soup kitchen. The book will be equally helpful to those who want to expand their existing soup kitchen or add a hot meal program to their food pantry, overnight shelter or other social service agency.
The book gives practical and crucial information on how to raise funds, acquire food, recruit volunteers and much more. Mission Possible is based on the authors 35 years of working with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) located in Trenton, New Jersey.
The book and the website are underwritten by the Tuchman Foundation, headed by Martin Tuchman, the conceiver of the project and one of the book’s co-authors.
The book contains 14 chapters and 4 appendices. Each chapter is composed of two sections: a two to three page overview of the subject followed by a list of tips, guides to some of the more subtle operations of a soup kitchen.
The book is organized in chronological fashion. It will take you from very conceptual considerations to relatively detailed instructions on the most common challenges you will face. In all cases, our essential goal has been to be practical and helpful.
Since the books release in July 2011 and its availability as a downloadable file, individuals in all 50 states and more than 150 different countries have downloaded the book.
The 2020 Presidential Election: Bloomberg My Choice at this Juncture
The Trentonian Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
Former Ohio governor and 2016 Republican presidential candidate John Kasich and Starbuck’s billionaire CEO, Howard Shultz, both have indicated they are “seriously considering” a possible third-party presidential challenge. The $64,000 question is whether a third-party ticket could do more than just act as spoiler for one of the other two parties.
Trenton gets little for supporting New Jersey government
The Trentonian Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
Trenton, New Jersey’s state Capital, faces the same core issues that many older northeast cities are grappling with – aging dilapidated infrastructure i.e., crumbling roads, bridges, sewers and water systems; poorly performing schools; high crime; a lack of affordable housing; and a dearth of employment opportunities.
Helping the working poor pay the rent
The Trentonian Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
Much debate has taken place over the last few months concerning raising the minimum wage in New Jersey to $15 an hour. The sticking point in the debate centered on the type of employees covered by the minimum wage legislation and what the phase-in period should be. Super markets and roller staking rinks, that employee lots of teens, rightfully felt strongly that the legislation should have a carve-out for unskilled youngsters who were 16-18 years of age.
NJ Democrats Are a Mess and Need to Mend Their Ways
The Trentonian Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
In a blue wave, New Jersey Democrats won four new seats in Congress and Senator Menendez beat back a well-financed campaign waged by pharmaceutical executive Bob Hugins to win re-election by a 53% to 44% margin. However, there are ominous clouds on the horizon that could trigger a Republican resurgence in New Jersey unless Democrats get their political house in order.
Trump’s economic populist nationalist message resonates with white voters
The Trentonian Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
As I look back at the 2016 presidential campaign, I keep asking myself over and over again how did a six time bankrupted charlatan, who was totally unprepared to serve as the leader of the free world, emerge as a major party’s candidate for the presidency and how did he win the election? The answer is race.
Jamal Khashoggi death must have meaning
The Trentonian Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
The grisly barbaric murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist living in the United States, who went into the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul seeking a visa for his wife, but never came out, was beyond appalling. President Trump’s refusal to take any action against Saudi Arabia in spite of substantial irrefutable evidence from the intelligence community that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the de facto 33-year-old ruler of Saudi Arabia, ordered and directed the execution-style murder, is mind-boggling.
Trump’s ‘America First’ approach is not new
The Trentonian Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
“America First” was the central overriding theme of President Trump’s Inaugural Address. “We assembled here today are issuing a new decree in every city, in every foreign capital and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it’s going to be America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength…We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world ─ but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.”
Editorial: Proposed cuts to food program are immoral
By NCR Editorial Staff
Sometimes it feels hard to keep up with the myriad scandals swirling around the Trump White House. From alleged payoffs to a porn star and ongoing inquiries into Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, the headlines come at a dizzying pace. The lurid spectacle of it all should not blind us to actual policy scandals that make a mockery of the administration's laughable claim to being "pro-life."
Op-Ed: Drastic SNAP Cuts Would Be Devastating Domestic Disaster
The Times of Trenton Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
In New Jersey, some 850,000 people receive more than $1 billion annually from SNAP to help buy food. Converting the program to a block grant would slash funds
Hunger affects one out of seven American men, woman, and children. Some 42.2 million Americans live in food-insecure households, including more than 13 million children. For this reason, America faces a potentially devastating domestic malnutrition disaster if the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp program) is converted to a block grant program and funding is slashed by $150 billion over 10 years.
With Money So Tight, We Need to Get Rid of Poor-Performing Charities
The Times of Trenton Newapaper
By Irwin Stoolmacher
America faces a potentially devastating domestic disaster the likes of which we have not seen in our history. As more and more charities seek money to deal with escalating problems, private support is stagnant and government money is on the decline.
A recent message received on the Mission Possible website from a Social Worker in Rhode Island
I saw your book advertised in the SUNY Binghamton Alumni News. I am a clinical social worker living in Rhode Island. Part of what I do here is run a transitional house for homeless adults. The Board and I are meeting shortly to consider new projects that we might undertake, as services for caring for the homeless population have undergone some shifts which have presented us with new challenges.
Book receives praise from South Africa
I just want to say thank you for the book. I'm based in South Africa and working with the Ward Councillor who wants to start several soup kitchens for his community. Thank You!
Glowing Praise for Mission Possible:
Want us to Speak at Your Event?
Authors Irwin Stoolmacher and Peter Wise are available to speak at your next conference or event.
Irwin S. Stoolmacher, Martin Tuchman & Peter C. Wise have more than thirty-five years of in the trenches experience working with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK).