Our Kind Of Soup Kitchen

In a story we somehow missed earlier this year, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama stopped by a soup kitchen for Washington D.C. homeless people a few months ago.

From the Chicago Tribune’s Swamp blog:

First Lady Michelle Obama stopped in at Miriam’s Kitchen, a soup line for the homeless just seven blocks from the White House.

Tucked in the basement of Western Presbyterian Church in Foggy Bottom, and recognized for its work with the homeless for 26 years, the kitchen serves breakfast for 200 to 250 a day – mainly men, according to Sara Gibson, director of development. The privately funded kitchen has the help of more than 1,200 volunteers.

The homeless here are called “guests” – “because it’s all about dignity,” Gibson says. On average, the guests have been homeless for nearly five years.

Today, Obama became the first first lady to volunteer here, Gibson says, though Karen Hughes, a senior aide to former President George W. Bush, had pitched in at the kitchen. The first lady made it clear that she hopes to set an example for other volunteers.

How did we miss this story? Well, we were getting introduced that day to the business end of Anton Gunn’s posse.

Had we been paying attention, we probably would have noticed the nice digital cell phone that homeless dude is using to take the First Lady’s pic.

Anyway, Mrs. Obama’s visit even prompted a Washington Post story a few weeks later about cell phone usage amongst the homeless, noting that the Obama photo “rankled some conservative commentators, who bemoaned a society where people who don’t have homes can afford mobile phones.”

Homes? What about people who can’t afford food who have mobile phones.

In fact, one of the homeless patrons of Miriam’s Kitchen had three cell phones – or one more than the governor of South Carolina.

Pic: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP