Working at a soup kitchen is good, but there are plenty of other ways to help as well.
Soup kitchen observations:
do not tell anyone where you live. Make up a location nearby. Don't be scared to be firm if anyone is being 'touchy feely' or pushy or wants to take photos of you.
From personal experience I would not recommend girls under the age of 21 working in a soup kitchen. That's a very general thing, and there are exceptions, but for prolonged contact with mentally ill / homeless, it is better to have some years on you simply because you are more confident in general and you can read situations better. I started working in a soup kitchen when I was 14 (!!!) due to a school program and it was a really stupid set up from my school, and dangerous for us volunteers too - male and female alike. (We were left in a really rough inner city soup kitchen without supervision and were much too young to be there). Now I am over 21, it is a lot easier, because you are more able to walk to balance between helping and communicating with people and deal with people firmly if needs be. Communicating firmly = shouting and doing a 'mother' voice and telling people to JUST STOP IT RIGHT NOW OTHERWISE YOU WILL GET NO CUSTARD. This does take some building up to. Teachers and parents tend to be brilliant in soup kitchens. But I would advise teenage and younglings to maybe not deal with soup kitchens directly. Fundraising, awareness of mental health, supervised visits with school or church with the homeless are better ways to go.
that said, kindness, smiling, spending time with people goes a long way. I cut homeless women's hair. We have a little 'box office' where there is a glass door so I and the client can be seen but not heard - a bit like a confessional box. Often in this situation the woman really starts to open up and talk to me. Plus she gets a cool hair do, if I do say so myself. Donations I love that no-one thinks of: make-up (not used), bath treats, hair treats, shampoo, conditioner - those bath gift sets you get for Christmas and never use - BRING IT
the best clothes to donate are things that you can imagine someone wearing (jeans, tshirts, jumpers, smart trousers, clean trainers) and they are good or wearable quality....oh my days, obviously donations are excellent, we need them, but we get so much tat that people just can't be bothered taking to the dump and it makes them feel better about themselves by leaving us bags of unwashed, bloodstained or otherwise (!) clothes that no one in their right mind could use...a highlight from last week: a badly frayed tweed three piece suit that stank of animal urine. Complete with...sweaty flipflops. Mmm. The perfect seasonal outfit for your aspirational care in the community client on the Scotland border.
No one can use stuff like that. And it takes valuable time from the volunteers sorting this stuff out. The same goes for charity shops as well. Clothes, stuff, brilliant, please just clean it (ironing isn't necessary, although you will be loved forever if you do iron things) just look at it and think 'is this usable? Is this wearable? Have I checked it for mysterious stains and smells?' if so, great, hand it over.
Charity and donation is great but after years of homeless worky stuff, I can honestly say, nothing will make a homeless person smile more than seeing that they are worthy of a genuine, new gift. It is actually a bit heartbreaking and has made my face leak on occasion. Immense success can be had with giving something new and particular to one person for their birthday and wrapping it up with a card. So little of their lives belong to them, and they are so used to cast offs. It is very humanising and appreciated to give them a small gift, tailored to them, it doesn't have to be expensive (I only spend about 5 - 10 pounds in such a situation). There is one mentally ill guy who comes to my soup kitchen on a regular basis with his boyfriend and he LOVES stuffed animals. He insists on taking any unwanted stuffed toys home because he feels like 'he can't leave them'. A new stuffed teddy bear for him went down a treat. He didn't need it, and it didn't have any particular use or relevance to any 'back to work' or 'integration into the community scheme' but it was a very small act of love for him to be told 'here is a gift that is not a cast off, it was purchased especially for you, because we like you'. I am a big believer in the power of treats. Please note I am not being anti-donation at all (we totally rely on donations, especially clothing) but just an idea if you wanted to do something special. On that note, when I am being organised (which isn't that often) I like to buy little gifts for homeless people I see on the street a lot, wrap them up with a card that says they are loved and / or with a number for local soup kitchen, and leave them with them when they are not looking or just hand them over, it really makes a difference. Try it! You might look a bit bonkers yourself, but who cares about that.
on that note, the most positive things I've found for interacting with people on the street are a) giving food (McDonalds, Starbucks coffee) and b) having a chat with them if they are receptive to it
cheerfully acknowledging beggars instead of treating them as invisible - I've only got a couple of people get antsy at me in years of doing this, but most of the time people appreciate you looking at them in the face and saying just 'sorry' at requests for money.
for people on the 'in between' of being made homeless and actually homeless, donating to foodbanks and especially also pet food - I was surprised at how many vulnerable / low income people had pets and relied on them to give them affection and structure in their daily lives. Yeah I know you should only have a pet if you can afford one, but for most people they start out being able to look after the animal and then life becomes horrible. Paying for dog and cat food, or even vet bills if you can afford it, can make a huge difference to someone. I know a guy who is not even a Christian (Jewish atheist!) who quietly and anonymously pays for cat food and neutering for local people who are struggling (especially old ladies on social security). A god amongst men.
cigarettes, cans of pop, chocolate bars. Yeah I know smoking / sugar isn't great for you, but this ties in with my treats thing. These guys have it rough enough anyway, why police them and deny them a small pleasure.
new woollen socks, new undies...