ANCHORAGE, Alaska — On an overcast summer afternoon just outside the Downtown Soup Kitchen in Anchorage, Chris Buckley sat with a steaming cup of soup and a sandwich, just one among the hundreds of homeless and working poor who come to this Christian charity every weekday for free food.

"I've had 32 cents in my pocket for a week," Buckley said.

While Buckley, a former farmer, and his wife, along with their three kids, do have a place to stay (they've been living with Buckley's mother-in-law), they still struggle to get by.

A bag of salad Buckley managed to snag from the kitchen will go a long way toward keeping his family fed. Sometimes, Buckley will make the long trip to the soup kitchen (over an hour on foot) so the rest of his family can enjoy whatever they've managed to secure for themselves, which isn't much these days.

Buckley's story is not unlike that experienced by many during economic downturns, as hard times displace families and force formerly self-sufficient people to rely on handouts to survive.

And just as Buckley has only recently begun to visit the soup kitchen after having lived in the Lower 48 for nearly three years, so too are hundreds of new customers or "clients," as management refers to those who utilize their services beginning to show up every day for a meal.

Vicki Martin, program and volunteer director, said kitchen staff used to believe a day when 350 clients came was busy. In this recession, however, between 480 and 490 people are visiting every day, many of whom own homes and cars, but are struggling to make ends meet.

"Today, first day of the month, we should have only done maybe about 250 (clients). But we did 325 today," she said.

Despite the spike in clients, the kitchen is still able to sustain itself, thanks to its efficiency and a savings account, said Mike Martin, board chairman and president.

While the company spends nearly $240,000 a year sustaining its operation, it actually performs nearly $1.4 million worth of business, including feeding and clothing the homeless, in addition to providing showers in a nearby shower house.

"Nobody can beat those numbers in the nonprofit realm," he said.

This is largely due to the number of volunteers under the kitchen's employ more than 110 and the vast quantities of food donated, in addition to food they buy from the local food bank.

Primarily, the program is sustained by donations, both from private individuals and charities, along with corporate donors like Safeway/Carrs.

As people cut down on unnecessary expenses, they ratchet down what they are willing to donate to charity, Mike Martin said. The kitchen has seen a dip in donations this year, and that, combined with the annual sink in donations during the summer months, has lead the kitchen to sustain itself using its savings account.

"We could ride about a year on our savings," Mike Martin said. "We're not in any immediate danger."

The kitchen reaches out to prospective donors by making announcements at Anchorage-area churches, Mike Martin said.

Other charitable organizations are solicited as well. The Petroleum Wives Club, a nonprofit charity made up of the wives of oil workers on the North Slope, raised $33,800 for the kitchen at a fundraiser held Feb. 13. This is the largest contribution from a single donor Mike Martin can remember.

"That donation will pay for one year's worth of our food budget," he said.

The kitchen was started nearly 30 years ago, and Changepoint Church bought it nearly nine years ago. That was when Mike Martin, previously a member of the church, got involved.

He began as a member of the executive board, but when the previous president stepped down, Mike Martin was offered the helm. He took it on condition that the vice president would stay on and help him run the show.

Despite their recent financial dip, Mike Martin said the kitchen plans to move into a new building, one that would be large enough to allow clients to sit inside while they eat.

At 12,000 square feet, the new facility will stand at nearly double the size of the old one. It will occupy a currently empty lot adjacent to the current campus.

The $3 million facility will be paid for, in part, by a $2 million contribution from the state. The sale of the current facility, valued in the mid-$600,000 range, would help provide the rest of the money.

A division of Kiewit Corp. will perform the construction. Mike Martin said the arrangement was "very agreeable" because that division specifically seeks out community-oriented projects and provides favorable markups to lessen the financial burden.

Similarly, Nvision Architecture, an architecture firm based in Anchorage, designed the building at what Mike Martin describes as a very reasonable rate.

Vicki and Mike aren't sure whether they'll opt to change the branding of the place. Regardless, it'll still offer the bundle of services offered at the current facility; warm food, clothing, showers and a little bit of hope.

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