As of last week, the Fulton Soup Kitchen stopped serving meals out of its former location at the Fulton Housing Authority's community building.
Anne Erbschloe, who served as president and a volunteer with the Fulton Soup Kitchen for more than 15 years, said the soup kitchen had served meals at the John C. Harris Community Center for about a decade. Before that, meals were served from the Haven House facility at Our House, according to organization's Executive Director Brad Sheppard.
Fulton Soup Kitchen officials said no rent money was exchanged and there was no contract between the two organizations. The Fulton Soup Kitchen had installed a commercial stove, freezers and most of its own equipment, Erbschloe said.
Current Fulton Soup Kitchen President Katherine Bader hopes to hear about a new location this weekend.
"It should be ready to run by Tuesday," she said, adding she didn't wish to name the new site until agreements had been finalized.
After an FHA board meeting Wednesday afternoon, Bader said she received a message from FHA Executive Director Anne Johnson informing her the the organization was suspending meal services until members of both boards of directors could discuss some recent concerns.
Johnson said she did not expect the Fulton Soup Kitchen to relocate.
"That was a total surprise to me; I had no idea they were going to do that," Johnson said Friday. "The board's intent was never to have the soup kitchen leave our building."
The last meal served by the Fulton Soup Kitchen was Tuesday evening, Bader said. Since then, temperatures have fallen to single digits in Fulton and by Monday night could go below zero degrees.
"It's ridiculously cold, and my people are not eating right now," Bader added. "That soup kitchen is my passion. Those people mean the world to me."
At the beginning of the month when people receive payments such as Social Security, pensions and supplemental income, fewer people come to eat; numbers increase as the month progresses.
"We might get 30, 35 people at the beginning of the month, 50-60 by the middle of the month and 70 or so by the end of the month," Bader said.
She thinks the meal sites under consideration could offer the Fulton Soup Kitchen a bright future.
"I also believe God moves in mysterious ways," Bader added. "I would go to the ends of the Earth and help people. That is just my outreach."