It May Be “Just Soup” to Some, but to One Lewes Woman, It Is Much, Much More
For Dale Dunning of Lewes, soup isn’t just food—it is her life’s calling. Dunning, 56, is an ordained minister who attended Sussex County School of Theology in Georgetown, but preaching from a pulpit every Sunday morning wasn’t what Dunning had in mind—she wanted to reach out to the community and be of help more directly and personally. As a result, she started her Jusst Sooup Ministry almost 13 years ago.
In the early hours of most mornings, about 175 gallons of soup are made in the Dunning kitchen. Dunning then travels around Sussex County in her RV, setting up soup kitchens at various churches and organizations to feed those in need. They not only get fed her soup, but her passion, her love and God’s word as well. Her mantra: “You can’t feed someone the word of God if they’re hungry.”
Dale and her husband Ken are no strangers to tough times themselves. They lost their Angola home of 31 years to foreclosure a while back, but they now have a home in Lewes. When asked how experiencing hard times herself changed her perspective on the work she’s doing, she said it taught her greater compassion. She now knows how people look at you when something like this happens in your life, so she takes care to treat her “Soupers” just like everyone else.
On the Thursday before the busy July 4th weekend, Ms. Dunning takes what must be a rare moment to sit down to speak with me at the Rehoboth Beach Presbyterian Church on Route 1, one of several stops she makes every week. Whatever misfortune or mistreatment her Soupers have endured outside those doors falls away she explains, gesturing to the threshold of the open doorway, and they are treated like kings and queens once inside. “That was then, and this is now.” she says, “I don’t judge.”
Looking around the room, it is easy to see that care has been taken to make this a pleasant meal-time experience. The air is fragrant with the smell of her soup and relaxing music is playing. The tables are set and waiting for the Soupers to arrive. As the lunch crowd starts to filter in, they each receive a smile and a greeting from their benefactor. In just 10 or 15 minutes, many of the chairs are filled and people are happily enjoying their meal.
The Jusst Sooup Ministry is not just about soup, though. The Dunnings have also helped the needy with transportation, groceries, rent, clothing and school supplies. How do they do it? “It’s a call of God,” Dale says, and she is confident that God will provide what is needed. Her husband works three jobs to help make ends meet.
Ms. Dunning has had a whirlwind of publicity this year—she made an appearance on Oprah, was profiled in People Magazine’s Heroes in Hard Times, and has been featured in a number of local newspaper articles. I wondered if all this attention had changed the Ministry at all. She said she had hoped it would inspire more local people to step up and help, but this hasn’t been the case thus far.
“God is teaching me something about serving,” she said, “and it is an honor to serve.” Ms. Dunning and her Jusst Sooup Ministry have fed 5700 of Sussex County’s homeless in just the past four years.
To donate to the Jusst Sooup Ministry or to volunteer at one of Ms. Dunning’s soup kitchens in Sussex County, please visit the Jusst Sooup website at http://www.jusstsooup.org/.
