Longtime soup kitchen director celebrated at retirement bash

GREENFIELD – Jill Ebbert is used to standing on her feet for hours at a time, greeting long lines of patrons at the Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen in Greenfield.

On Saturday, she stood for hours greeting long lines of well wishers at her retirement party.

A steady stream of guests flowed into the Greenfield Christian Church reception hall to celebrate Ebbert, who has spent the past 15 years serving as the soup kitchen’s executive director since it first opened in 2009.

“She’s been a pillar of the community for a long time, and what she’s done in service to the community is just extraordinary,” said Tom Ferguson, one of the many who came to wish Ebbert well.

As a longtime volunteer for the Hancock County Food Pantry, Ferguson has worked in collaboration with Ebbert to serve those facing food insecurity throughout the county.

“We have a common goal to feed people, and it’s just been a pleasure to work with her. It’s a retirement well deserved,” he said.

“She is the epitome of selflessness,” chimed in Jackie Barton, who was standing in the reception line next to Ferguson.

As a regular volunteer at the soup kitchen for the past five years, Barton has seen first hand the love and generosity Ebbert showers on the patrons who visit the kitchen each day, stopping for a warm meal and a big hug from Ebbert.

“The people who come in come in not just for food, but many come for companionship and friendship … It’s a gathering place, and that’s because of Jill. She just constantly displays kindness,” Barton said.

Fellow volunteer Sandy Miller has also been amazed at the impact Ebbert has made at the soup kitchen.

“She’s a great leader with wonderful organizational and fundraising skills, and she has a heart for people in need,” said Miller, part of the local Tri Kappa group which sends a team of volunteers to prepare lunch at the soup kitchen once a month.

In the 12 years since she’s been volunteering, Miller has watched in awe as the soup kitchen’s reach has continued to grow.

“We used to serve (about 20 people) for lunch, and now there’s over 200,” she said, as she inched forward in the line to greet Ebbert.

Another volunteer, Lori Elmore, agreed that the longtime director would be greatly missed.

“She’s had a huge impact on the community. She has no idea the number of lives she’s touched in the volunteers and the people that she’s helped. The community is a greater place because of the work she’s done,” said Elmore, whose niece, Lyndsey Rea, has been tapped to take over Ebbert’s post when she retires Sept. 30, which marks her 15th anniversary working there.

The soup kitchen opened Oct. 12, 2009, less than two weeks after Ebbert was hired.

Throughout the years she has come to be known as a loving, mothering figure who has embraced both patrons and volunteers at the soup kitchen as family and friends.

Ebbert has said that serving as the director has been “the greatest blessing God has given me since the birth of my daughter,” and that the opportunity to serve those in need has been life changing.

“You quickly get your priorities in order as you literally witness miracles happening continuously,” she said. “I’m extremely proud that we serve without judgment, accepting and loving people right where they are.”

As the soup kitchen heads into a new chapter, its staff and volunteers say they will never forget the woman who made the soup kitchen a warm and loving place for so many to receive a bit of food and kindness over the years.

Ebbert said she was “blown away” by the number of people who turned out at her retirement sendoff to wish her well.

“I really honestly thought it was so hot outside that people wouldn’t want to get out,” she said, as the line of people waiting to see her extended out the door.

“This is just amazing,” she said, standing alongside a table stacked with gifts and cards. “I feel very loved and very blessed. I really do.”