Warm holiday joy: Cooking for homeless people in the Caritak Church!

On December 26, 2024, kitchen master Sebastian Küpper prepared a festive three-course menu for homeless and needy people in the Caritakirche. The menu included a wintry salad, chicken breast in herb sauce, served with red and pointed cabbage, as well as crepes with orange sauce and a vanilla cinnamon cream. Küpper collected money in his family for this social campaign at Christmas and cooked this year for visitors to the day club Bruno-Lelieveld-Haus, which is operated by the Wohlfahrt association.

Tanja Buchner, a 17-year-old volunteer of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Federation (ASB), supported him during the event. Around 60 guests took part in the event. Among them were Otto (75) and Michael (64), who were positive about the community and food. Friedel (63), who has lived without his own apartment for a year and sleeps in train stations during the week, was also grateful. The guests appreciated the service because the food was served and they did not have to do. Hildegard van de Braak, the Caritas area manager, as well as other employees took over the service and ensured a smooth process.

voluntary actions for homeless people

Michael thanked Küpper and praised the food as "cooked with love". The Wohlfahrt association is dependent on donations, especially to support homeless people. Caritas offers a freshly cooked lunch for people in need every Thursday and is continuously looking for volunteers.

In the meantime, the heat room has been involved in the homeless for 44 years by cooking a warm lunch every Sunday. This initiative was launched in 1978 after the death of a homeless person in Ulm. Liselotte Bertsch, who has been shaping the project since the beginning, is now giving up her office for health reasons. The service was originally set up on weekends because the overnight home was closed during the day. Since then, a volunteer team has been responsible for meals in the context of two to three services per year, with the number of guests increasing from at the beginning around 20 to 50 per Sunday.

The kitchen of the overnight home is now well equipped and the costs for meals vary. A permanent support and donor group as well as benefit events contribute to financing. Renate Brugger coordinates the missions of the cooking teams and organizes annual meetings. The heat room is also looking for new volunteers for cooking services. Donations can be made to the Sparkasse Ulm via the campaign 100,000. The Ulm municipal council also plans to convert the DRK overnight home to offer guests more privacy, whereby the renovation should begin in autumn 2023.