SHAMOKIN -- A couple from Northumberland County are feeding the hungry--one bowl of soup at a time. James and Janet Bowers of Coal Township run a mobile soup kitchen.
James and Janet Bowers serve soup to dozens of hungry people on water street in Shamokin out of this school bus. They call it "God's Chuckwagon."
Eight years ago the couple from Coal Township started a soup kitchen at their church, but when the church flooded in 2011, they took the show on the road.
"We put a pot of soup in the back of a Chevy Malibu and fed 20 people. We're now up to 250 people a week," James said.
Janet makes the soup every week at the couple's house.
"I started with 40 quarts and now I'm up to almost 80 quarts a day. So that would be 160 quarts a week," Janet said.
People say God's Chuckwagon is appreciated and needed in Shamokin.
"I try to get here every week. I think it's a great thing that they do. There's a lot of people in this town that don't have a lot of money and this helps out," Kevin Kish said.
"It's a good thing to have on a cold day when you're out here. Like i said, you couldn't ask for nicer people," Wayne Derk said.
The Bowers run God's Chuckwagon solely on donation. It took three years to buy this school bus. Money is tight, but the couple says it is worth it.
"It's when somebody walks up to us and says, 'Oh, God bless you, I haven't eaten in three days,'" Janet said.
"The day after Christmas last year we were feeding on the sidewalk and an eight-year-old boy comes up to us and says, look mom, now we can eat today," James said.
God's Chuckwagon is in Mt. Carmel every Monday from 4 to 6 p.m. and in Shamokin every Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. as well.
For more information or to donate to God's Chuckwagon, click here.