The doors to the Interfaith Nutrition Network's soup kitchen in Hempstead don't open until 10, but there was a line of people outside the building at 8:30 a.m. when I drove up. The temperature was only 24 degrees and you could see the vapors of people breathing in the cold air.

If you spend any time at a soup kitchen, you get to recognize the regulars. The mothers with young children whose eyes open wide when they get to the front of the serving line and you put a plate heaped high with good food on their tray. Those eyes tell the whole story. It's not just food we're serving, it's hope, and compassion, and love. And those children need every bit of it.

Among the regulars are the elderly men and women who have difficulty walking to the soup kitchen, but do it once or twice a week regardless of the weather. They often ask me for an extra portion of rice or vegetables and oh, how they smile when we give them that extra scoop. It's like they won the lottery.

There are lots of young men eating at the soup kitchen, day laborers who wait on corners near hardware stores or lumber yards hoping to be picked by a local contractor to earn a day's wages. More often than not, they wait in vain, and then bring their hungry stomachs to the soup kitchen, to fill with our chicken noodle soup. Many of them take advantage of the showering facilities at this soup kitchen --- we give each a towel, soap, shampoo, shaving items, toothpaste, and toothbrushes if they want them. Some come just to get out of the cold, to sit for a few minutes with their friends, nursing the hot coffee and tea that we offer before and after every meal.

Sometimes, I think that I should introduce these people to the politicians who make such nice speeches about helping the poor, the hungry, the people without jobs, the people with no health care. But frankly, I don't have the time.

Today, we'll serve more than 350 meals at this soup kitchen. And then tomorrow, other volunteers will do it all over again.

If you'd like to help families in need, please make your check payable to the Interfaith Nutrition Network. Donations may be mailed to: Dave Golbert, 7 Lee Court West, Great Neck, NY 11024. For information about volunteering, please call: 917-418-2451 or email: davegolbert@yahoo.com

May the blessings in our lives remind us to have compassion for the needs of others.