rededication

Ceremony celebrates a better, stronger TASK

TRENTON -- Volunteers, civic leaders and community members turned out yesterday for a show of support at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

They came for a rededication ceremony celebrating the completion of an expansion of the TASK building on Escher Street. Additions include 1,761 square feet of space to the kitchen and 852 square feet of new storage space.

But event organizers made it clear that the real dedication being celebrated was for the staff, volunteers and supporters at the kitchen.

"The theme you are going to see today is about the continued triumph of community," Dennis Micai, executive director of TASK, told the crowd packed into the dining hall of the TASK building.

"On behalf of the board of trustees of TASK, I want to express my sincere appreciation to the greater Mercer County community and to each and every one of you for your continued generous support of our patrons and our programs. Thank you for all you do for the truly needy among us," said Jim Parker, chairman of the TASK board of trustees.

TASK staff members say they expect to serve more than 180,000 free meals to needy patrons this year. That is up from the 40,000 served in 1982, the year the kitchen first opened in the basement of a Trenton church.

TASK moved to the building on Escher Street in 1991, and while staff members say the building served them well, expansion was needed.

"The lack of a refrigerator, freezer and dry storage space prevented TASK from accepting and appropriately storing all of the food donations that could be utilized," Parker said, noting that the kitchen was designed at a time when TASK was preparing about 75,000 meals a year.

During her speech to the crowd, State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Lawrence, said that while she admired the efforts of staff and volunteers at the kitchen, she was saddened by the growing need for organizations such as TASK.

"That does not bode well for a country and a state who are so wealthy," Turner said.

But Turner applauded TASK for its adult education programs. "This building will become more or less obsolete because you are teaching self-sufficiency."

After the rededication ceremony, visitors took guided tours of the new spaces while author and TASK board of trustees member Lee Seglem signed copies of his book, "In Plain Sight: The Story of TASK." The $25 paid per book were to be donated to the kitchen.

A barbecue lunch was served to soup kitchen patrons and supporters alike. Sixty student volunteers from The College of New Jersey handed out plates filled with chicken burritos, baked beans and potato salad.

"This, I think, really helps a lot of people," Katrina Blaise, one of the student volunteers, said. Blaise said she was there to complete a community learning requirement for school. "I would have come here anyway. It's a really worthy cause."