West Haven — When the problem of hunger in the community grows, local volunteers are intent on being part of the solution.

“I never understood why people in this country went to sleep hungry,” said Jim Sonet, a West Haven Elk. “It never made sense to me.”

Sonet, a member of West Haven’s food insecurity task force, has been working to coordinate a monthly Wednesday soup kitchen at the Elks Lodge at 265 Main St. He said that, through his volunteerism on the task force and with Greater New Haven homebound food service FISH, he has learned that Wednesday is a day when many food insecure residents in the area may slip through the cracks.

“We learned Wednesdays are a very bad day for people who need a hot meal,” he said.

So this week, Sonet and a team of volunteers are piloting the first monthly Elks soup kitchen from 5 to 6:30 p.m.; because of the currently limited resources, the soup kitchen is intended to be limited to West Haven residents, he said.

Going forward, Sonet said, the soup kitchen will be able to iron out logistics and fine-tune its operation.