Huron Ministerial Association plans soup supper to raise money for Help Fund

Eight varieties of tantalizing soup, breads, bars and more will be available for a freewill offering from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, to raise funds for the Huron Ministerial Association’s Help Fund.
There are 15 to 20 churches in the Association, and each church will be providing food for the fundraising supper, said the Rev. Dean Trapp, president of the HMA. He serves Riverview United Methodist Church.
“The main thing that we do is help people who are just passing through town, we call them transients,” Trapp said. “Maybe they need a night’s rest, and we put them up in a hotel, or might need some food or gas.”
Each church pays a certain amount of money to the Association, based on their membership, and that money becomes the Help Fund.
“We were getting pretty low on funds about three years ago,” he said. “We were getting so many requests — that’s why we came up with the idea of the soup supper. We did not run out, but we were running low.

“Since we’ve been doing the soup suppers, we have a little extra money to help with things other agencies in Huron aren’t able to help with,” he said.
Trapp said they have provided funds to help individuals get needed driver licenses or identification cards.
“Just recently we had people that needed to get to Sioux Falls to the homeless shelter, and we paid for their ticket through People’s Transit,” he said. “We’ve had people released from prison with nowhere to go.
“We do help local people, too,” Trapp added. “There are agencies that can help with rent and utilities, but some fall through the cracks. We’ve helped when other agencies can’t help.”
Those who come for help are directed to the Huron Police Department, where they can find vouchers to help fill their need.
“The police department has been wonderful to work with,” Trapp said. “I can’t say enough about what they’ve done.
“There’s even been domestic things when somebody has to be out of the house, and they can’t put them in jail, but they’ve got to go somewhere,” Trapp said. “I’ve received some late night calls.”
Trapp said he encourages any churches in the community to become part of the Ministerial Association by calling him at 352-6772.
“We certainly do appreciate the churches that have stepped forward and are making soup and other foods,” he added. “We’re grateful for the help we receive. We know there’s a lot of needs in the community.”