Since it’s Valentine’s Day this week, let’s speak of love. When talking of love, we must bring up “the Cup,” a working, reliable testimony of love for our fellow man in Eureka Springs, A Cup of Love.
You don’t have to be a Christian to believe in the true message Jesus taught, and you don’t have to be a disciple to appreciate human beings being fed and cared for.
At A Cup of Love all are welcome and nobody is ever turned away. People are served and loved, not preached at and judged. “That’s why we are here. To show love and to show people that there is another way, you’re not alone. Whatever we have is available to whoever needs it,” Chuck Jarrett said.
A Cup of Love served 23, 699 free hot meals and provided free weekly groceries at least once to 8,703 households in 2023. (2024 statistics not yet available).
“We are the only food bank in Carroll County that serves a tri-state area encompassing Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma,” Pattie Jarrett said. “We believe that we are only one like this in nation. Most food banks are USDA-run and restricted to citizens of specific towns or counties. We don’t deal with the government, we are not controlled. You will not be denied for not showing identification documentation.”
Their free buffet-style restaurant is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They offer full hot meals, a salad bar, and desserts. The meals are all you can eat, and you can take as much as you want to go. There is water and coffee to drink.
They also have a food pantry from which anybody can get groceries once a week. They offer a variety of fresh produce daily, as well.
A Cup of Love was started in 2013 by Chuck and Pattie, a 38-year couple. They did their first four years on the streets, feeding 100 people a day at five different locations, and did it with 12 crockpots crowding out most of the counter space in their home kitchen. Once their ministry outgrew their kitchen, they moved into their current building. This became the permanent location in 2017.
When asking Chuck what makes them so relatable to the people he replied, “We’ve been homeless, so we know. You know how it is in Eureka every winter you get laid off?” Talking about Pattie he said, “She can bake a cake in a stinkin’ fire mannn.” Pattie laughed and added, “Well, we didn’t have an oven. We lived out in the country and couldn’t afford propane. We learned to bake everything in an open fire, from cornbread to birthday cakes.”
“It was so nice,” Chuck said. “I could have lived in that period of our lives forever.”
“The Lord really impressed on my heart that I was to feed people, Pattie said. “But I didn’t know how. I told Chuck that we needed to somehow reach out to our community and take care of the people who need food.”
Chuck was working full time as a chef but supported his wife’s vision, anyway. He scaled back from five workdays each week to three.
“Then the Lord impressed on my heart that we would be taken care of, and Chuck needed to quit his job completely,” Pattie said. “This is something we needed to do full time. I told Chuck that and he thought I was crazy. He was wondering how we’d survive.”
Chuck chuckled and chimed in, “That’s why we say ‘just in time, Jesus.’ It’s just what we need, right on time. We struggle. We squeak by and have nothing extra, but we know we will be provided for. It’s the Lord keeping us humble, because if we were rich we’d probably be making the wrong decisions.”
The Cup not only kept going during Covid, but expanded operations, never ignoring the calling to help fellow humans. “That’s why I built that outdoor patio. We weren’t going to give up,” Chuck said.
“We couldn’t stop, people were more hungry than ever,” Pattie added. “This is when we opened Monday through Friday. Oftentimes, homeless have no means to store their food. We opened daily to keep their food from spoiling and so they didn’t have to carry around as much.”
People come to the Cup for different reasons. A few to volunteer and serve. Most to eat and to socialize, and some who do it all. A Cup of Love is a safe place to congregate out of the elements and gives the residentially challenged a place to fill up their bodies and recharge their electronics.
Pattie is a painter, and Chuck a musician. They have opened an art gallery/music store in the front of their building. The art gallery is selling originals and prints of Pattie’s paintings, art supplies, new/used clothing and jewelry. Donations are welcome.
The music shop will be selling musical instruments and equipment. Chuck is an excellent drummer and will be doing instrument repairs specializing in percussion. He is also creating custom paintings on drum sets.
Chuck just finished building a full stage that houses one of the loudest sound systems around. They label this as a venue for fundraising. Chuck envisions hearing a diversity of musical genres spanning from hard rock to rap. “I wanted a good place for people to come play. But it’s going to be all Jesus, everything. It’s just another way to reach people,” Chuck said.
With the new stage plus an enormous amount of standing room and one of the bigger parking lots in town, A Cup of Love has humbly become a capable live event venue. They will be hosting music shows and booking events regularly, as well as performing musicals. Talk to Chuck for booking inquiries.
On Feb. 21 there will be live music, spaghetti and bingo from 5–8 p.m. A $10 donation is requested.
A Cup of Love is thankful for ongoing community support, and right now they are looking for volunteers. They can be reached at (479) 363-4529, and are located at 4032 E. Van Buren (US 62E.)