Elijah's Promise Gets a Whole New Look, Courtesy of Liquid Church

Clients of the Elijah's Promise soup kitchen now have a restaurant-quality dining room to have their meals in, following a $20,000 makeover by volunteers of Liquid Church.  

From 4 p.m. June 1 to around 6 p.m. June 2, more than 200 volunteers working in five shifts made over the soup kitchen space on Neilson Street. New coats of paint were applied to all the walls, artwork was hung, metal bars removed from the soup kitchen windows, and new furniture brought in to create a look that was more cafe than cafeteria.

Several Liquid Church volunteers described the soup kitchen's look as "institutional" and said the idea of the makeover was to get the space looking more homey.

To improve upon the soup kitchen's look, the faded canary yellow color of the walls was replaced with beige, white and green tones.

All the furniture was replaced with finished oak tables and chairs and a mural of New Brunswick now adorns one of the soup kitchen's walls. Metal bars on the soup kitchen windows were removed, and wooden blinds were put in.

In the preparation area of the soup kitchen, organization was reworked to be easier to work with, neater and nicer looking, said volunteer Taleta Costello of Cranford, the project's designer.

Shelves were put in and new baskets were placed around the kitchen to organize supplies, she said.

Additionally, the serving area was brought out into the dining room area, creating more of a self-serve line, according to volunteer Tom Keane of Somerset, the project's operations supervisor.

The serving line change was specifically requested by Elijah's Promise, Keane said.

Elijah's Promise functions as the main soup kitchen for Middlesex County, and serves more than 100,000 meals annually. It is open seven days a week to provide those meals, and in the past has also functioned as a shelter for area homeless during periods of harsh weather.

Liquid Church is a nondenominational Christian Church that holds services in New Brunswick, Nutley, and Morristown.

During the soup kitchen makeover, their team of volunteers were also handling an outreach project in Nutley.

Last week, they completed an outreach project in Morristown, making over the Eric Johnson House in Morristown, a group residence for people living with AIDS, according to Wendy Hosier, service and outreach coordinator for Liquid Church.

"The people at our church blow me away," Keane said.

While the makeover was underway, volunteers from Liquid Church continued to provide meals at the soup kitchen, hosting barbecues for clients in the rear parking lot.

On Monday, the Elijah's Promise staff said the makeover far exceeded their expectations.

"The makeover was transformational and exceeded anything we could have imagined. We now have a kitchen that allows us to serve our guests in a more loving and dignified space," a statement from the organization said. "We are grateful beyond words. There have been countless tears of joy shared over the last several days!"

Some of those tears of joy could be seen in videos posted on the Elijah's Promise Facebook page, as staffers walked into the renovated space for the first time and were overcome by emotion.

"It's an amazing gift that will keep on giving," said Elijah's Promise executive director Lisanne Finston. "Thank you Liquid Church and all the many faithful volunteers and supporters who keep fueling the promise!"