The
SoupMan says that although "we can't feed everybody yet,
we're working on it."
David
Timothy, a.k.a. the SoupMan, and his volunteers take food in their
SoupMobile to the homeless wherever they can find them –
under bridges, behind dumpsters, in the woods and on the streets,
serving around 4,000 meals a month.
They
know he's coming because his van blares out the theme from Rocky,
which also sends the uplifting message that they may be down but
not without hope.
For
years, Mr. Timothy was a pension consultant, providing information
to bring late-in-life security to the relatively well-off. He
still practices on a limited scale in the evenings.
A
couple of years ago, though financially comfortable himself, he
decided to heed his conscience and spend his life comforting some
of society's least fortunate.
His
intention was to establish a soup kitchen, but he ran into the
"not-in-my-backyard" syndrome and zoning obstacles.
He and a friend, Sheryl Galvan, decided to take food to the hungry
instead.
They
leased a two-story building at 3017 Commerce St. for a warehouse
and office and bought a 1985 Ford Econoline 150 panel truck that
has now been driven 265,000 miles.
Mr.
Timothy, 56, has two office managers, Debbie Debruin and Kelly
Kaszynski, and a host of volunteers who load the SoupMobile for
its Monday through Friday departures around 1:30 p.m. –
and on Saturdays when there is enough food to dispense.
"We
get all our soup and all of our chili at the last minute from
Paper Sack Deli" on Plano Road in Dallas, Mr. Timothy said.
The group also gets a lot of food and sweets from Kroger.
"We're
the only mobile feeder that is a member of the North Texas Food
Bank, where at least once a week we get our dry goods, produce,
powdered milk," he said. "They're a real blessing to
us.
"We
deliver nothing that requires refrigeration. A typical lunch would
be a sandwich, a banana or apple, a bag of potato chips and sweet,"
plus water or lemonade.
'New
people all the time'
Mr.
Timothy says that since the homeless move around a lot, "we're
out there to keep up with them."
"The
largest communities would be around 100 people, but often there
are five people, or 20 or 30. They are like little cities. There
are a fair amount of women and up to 10 percent under the bridges.
"In
this economy, we're seeing new people all the time, better dressed,
better educated. They have lost a couple of [housing] payments.
The new homeless will try to get in a shelter," but the hard
core don't fare as well, he said.
"We
see a whole family living in an abandoned car. Most of these families
don't have family support groups. They're decent people, they
were just living too close to or on the edge" financially.
"A
lot of those people want to work, but many of them find their
big problem is that once people find out they've been among the
homeless, they don't get the job."
And
the number of homeless people with mental illness is on the rise,
Mr. Timothy said.
"We're
not under any umbrella, religious or otherwise, but Highland Park
United Methodist Church has been helpful. For the most part, though,
our support comes from the general public."
Fund
freeze-out
One
source of funds is a concession stand at American Airlines Center.
Mr. Timothy's volunteers operate the stand, and a percentage of
the sales are turned over to SoupMobile.
Though
Mr. Timothy is a native of Detroit, he misses those Dallas Stars
games at AAC and the revenue they generated for his charity.
Speaking
of Detroit, Mr. Timothy came to Dallas in 2001 so that his wife,
Peggy, could obtain the best treatment in her fight with multiple
sclerosis. She remained a leader of the cheering section for her
husband's efforts until she lost her battle last October.
As
Mr. Timothy continues his campaign, he lists some major needs,
in addition to financial help. That financial help is for the
operation, not for him.
His
salary is set at $1 a year by his board of three, including him,
a bargain since he averages 60-plus hours a week on the job.
The
needs include volunteers. He needs a volunteer CPA to prepare
tax returns and audit financial information, a volunteer fund-raiser,
a volunteer grant writer, and volunteers for office work, food
preparation, errands and such.
And
oh yes, despite the fact that the SoupMobile, whose license tag
says Soup 1, has a zillion miles on it, it's still serviceable.
But Mr. Timothy dreams of adding Soup 2, Soup 3, Soup 4 and ...
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