"ONE NIGHT, ONE MEAL
MAKES A DIFFERENCE"
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Dorothy Crawford and Pastor Paul Seay founded the Holy House of Prayer Soup Kitchen in October 2000.
Dorothy’s Testimony states “Each and every time I drive to church from my home in the Midwood section of
Brooklyn I see so many people on the street, especially children. I would say to myself, are these people getting
atleast one hot nutritional meal a week. I thought what if I could start a soup kitchen? I love to cook and it would
help the people in my church community. So one day I asked Pastor Seay what did he think about having a soup
kitchen at the Holy House of prayer for All people? He began to tell me about his vision to provide the people of
this low economic community with adequate nourishing meals. Pastor Seay asked me to research how to start a
soup kitchen.“
Unexpectedly, this vision came to reality when Dorothy Crawford and her husband were on their way to work. Like
any typical work morning Ms. Crawford’s husband would purchase the New York Daily Newspaper from the corner
store blocks away from their home. As Ms. Crawford browsed through the paper she came across an article
informing readers how the church should serve as a resource to help eliminate hunger. The article written by
Minister Ray Ricketts, suggested opening a soup kitchen as an option. It was this article that led Dorothy to put
her vision in action and a soup kitchen was established.
After months on preparation and anticipation, the soup kitchen was finally open and ready for business on January
31, 2001. The Soup Kitchen is open every Wednesday for dinner from 7pm to 9pm. Funded solely by Dorothy
Crawford and Pastor Paul Seay, the menu for our grand opening included fried chicken, collard greens, macaroni
and cheese candied yams, hot soup, corn bread, cakes and fruit juice. This seven-course dinner would set the
foundation on which we based our weekly menu. On this joyous night we served a total of 98 men, women and
children. Our staff consisted of Ms. Crawford, the cook, Pastor Paul Seay and six volunteers.
Five Years later with funding still being provided by Ms. Crawford, Pastor Seay, United Way of New York and Efap
the soup kitchen is still in operation. Presently we are feeding 358 people a week and steady climbing. Our
volunteer staff has increased to 3 cooks and many volunteers. Although we are happy with the results and
progress of the soup kitchen we are always searching for opportunities to enhance the resources we provide to
this community. The soup kitchen is now called O.P.I.N., (Other People In Need), Incorporated.
O.P.I.N. (Other People in Need), Inc.
