More than 20 volunteers crowd the soup kitchen by 4 p.m. Tuesday, maneuvering around each other as they prepare to feed the 100 people who attend their free weekly dinner.

For the volunteer leaders, the cooking can be chaotic. Then they think about how financial difficulties threatened to close Soup at Six kitchen a week about – and feel a sense of relief.

Volunteers are now confident they’ll have no trouble keeping the place running. From the elderly to junior high school students, people are again sending donations.

Since 1983, Soup at Six has provided dinner at 4:30 p.m. each Tuesday from the basement gym of the Hemenway United Methodist Church, 933 Chicago Ave.

Volunteer leader Julie Cowan said the group discovered a week ago that they had no money left.

“Some of the older ladies were taking money out of their pockets to pay for the groceries,” she said.

Erica Hall, who manages the kitchen today, estimated the food costs $12,000 to $15,000 each year.

“There’s no schedule of volunteers; there’s no supply list,” Cowan said. “For 24 years, it’s always worked.”

Volunteers said donations had dwindled because patrons were more focused on sending aid to places that endured national disasters, such as New Orleans.

The soup kitchen, independent of the church, relies on large donations and rarely asks for funds. An article from the Chicago Tribune discussed their circumstance, the number of donations began to rise.

Soup at Six was established by Mary Gavin, now the managing editor of the Evanston RoundTable, and other residents, she said.

Since then it has passed through many hands and attracted a growing number of volunteers and guests to its meals.

“I come here sometimes if I don’t work at 1:30,” she said. “I start preparing the food. For Thanksgiving, I take the whole day off and we have a big turkey dinner with the works.”

Hall said she often stays until 7 p.m. to clean up.

“All my life I’ve been doing food service,” Hall said. “It’s a delight for me. I love to feed people.”

The meals are always nutritious but sometimes challenging to prepare with the limited materials available, Cowan said.

Meals include fruits, vegetables, meat and soup, said Willoughby. A take-home lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and chips or cookies is also prepared for guests.

“All that stuff, it really adds up,” he said.

The kitchen has continued running and new volunteers are joining the crew.

Weinberg freshman Sarah Green has volunteered twice at the kitchen with a friend.

“It’s an interesting contrast with what we see at Northwestern. When we come here we see it’s not all like that,” she said. “It’s good perspective.”

Mike Murdock, who has been helping the kitchen since 1988, said the importance of helping the hungry keeps him coming back.

“When you see how dedicated our volunteers are, and how appreciative our guests are, it’s truly remarkable,” he said.

Reach Diana Xin at [email protected].