Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Long Beach Soup Kitchen will be hosting a food drive in collaboration with Long Beach High School’s girl’s Oct. 11 varsity volleyball tournament.
Canned goods such as Spam, chicken broth, beans, sausages and salmon are being requested. Donations, which can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and noon at the tournament, can also include starches such as pasta, ramen soup and small bags of rice.
The Saturday collaboration is the second of its kind–following a successful curbside food drop-off food drive in March led by the girl’s lacrosse team. The tournament will feature eight girls’ teams, including Long Beach.
Jeanne Honig has been with the Long Beach Soup Kitchen for over a decade and said food donations are needed “now more than ever,” and the “need is growing.”
The community outreach liaison and longstanding board member urged the community to donate. Federal budgets have stunted suppliers’ ability to provide the Soup Kitchen with adequate donated provisions.
“It’s important at this time that we get the support,” Honig said, noting that the Soup Kitchen serves 20,000 meals annually.
Senior Charlotte Free, a setter on the Long Beach a volleyball team, is one of the volunteers who helps prepare those meals.
Free, who has been volunteering at the soup kitchen since January, said that she wants to help prevent those in need from not having access to sufficient food or food of an adequate quality, to meet one’s basic needs, which is defined as food insecurity.
“It makes you feel good knowing that you’re helping out,” Free said of the importance of giving back to the community. “A little bit [of help] goes a long way.”
Arnold Epstein, the director of Health, Physical Education, and Athletics for Long Beach Public Schools, has helped spread awareness of Saturday’s event using flyers and other methods encouraging students to get involved.
“Community service is a big part of what we instill in our student-athletes,” Epstein said. “We strongly encourage our students to be active in our community.”
Honig hopes to receive a response on Saturday similar to the one in March–one that she described as “wonderful and generous.”
The Long Beach Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based organization established in 1983 to feed hungry people in the Long Beach area. The kitchen has 40 active volunteers who make everything from scratch — serving 2,200 people each month. They provide community members in need with a lunch consisting of a sandwich, fruit, beverage and pastry–as well as a dinner consisting of a soup, protein and a vegetable.
“It makes me feel good to know it’s getting attention,” Free said. “Many people don’t know we even have a soup kitchen here.”
While donation events are a part of building up its pantry, the Soup Kitchen also receives donations year-round from Trader Joe’s and Island Harvest, as well as vegetables from Point Lookout, the Atlantic Beach Community Garden, and individual donations.
For more information on the Long Beach Soup Kitchen, go to LongBeachSouplitchen.com.
