As noon approached Thursday, the scent of warm meals and the hum of conversation rose from a local church.

In the basement of the First Presbyterian Church, 311 Seventh St., community members gathered to enjoy a warm meal provided free by Soup Stop.

Soup Stop serves food catered by What’s Cookin’ from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Everyone in the Charleston community is welcome to Soup Stop, regardless of whether they are in need or not.

Carleton Curran, a Soup Stop volunteer and retired Eastern history professor, has worked to provide meals from the very first day Soup Stop began at the church on Jun. 18, 2001.

Curran said he began volunteering at Soup Stop because he saw the need of his fellow community members for a hearty meal.

“I thought it sounded like a worthy enterprise and would fill a niche that needed to be filled in Charleston,” he said. Curran went on to say Charleston has few places that provide free lunches to community members who might not have the means to afford one.

Every Thursday, students from Eastern’s Student Community Service take advantage of the opportunity to help the community by volunteering at Soup Stop.

Margaret Gonzalez, a senior marketing major, said she has free time every Thursday and wanted to spend the time purposefully.

“I figured I would give back,” she said. “I think it’s a good thing to do.”

Gonzalez said because she is also a student in Charleston that she felt it was important to help those in need in her community.

She has volunteered at Soup Stop for three years and said she enjoys the conversations that spark up in the church’s basement.

“It’s nice to talk with everyone and just see how they are doing,” she said as family members and individuals sat in folding chairs while mingling and enjoying their meals..

Curran said he also enjoys speaking with his fellow community members and learning more about them and their experiences.

“It’s an interesting experience. It’s a completely different social milieu than I am used to,” he said. “I’ve learned lots of things I didn’t know existed before working here.”

And after working at Soup Stop for 11 years, Curran said working to help the families and individuals has been an amazing experience.

“It’s been rewarding, very rewarding to get to know these people and make some contribution to society in some manner, as oblique as it may be,” he said.

Tim Deters can be reached at 581-2812 or tadeters@eiu.edu.