Suffolk is a big city with a diverse population experiencing a variety of needs across its more than 400 square miles of land area. So it stands to reason that there are people all over the city who are in need of a little help, whether or not they live near the downtown area where those services are most likely to be found.

A Portsmouth-based ministry has been working for 47 years to fill the gap in that city, and its work has expanded through the years to help people in the North Suffolk area, as well.

Oasis Social Ministry, which is located in downtown Portsmouth, serves residents of Portsmouth and the Churchland and Western Branch areas, which include portions of Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk.

Oasis’ programs include a soup kitchen, food pantry and clothes closet. The organization’s food ministry is well known in the area for providing meals at its facility for the homeless.

Volunteers will join a group of sponsors and chefs from a few of the area’s favorite restaurants on Monday to celebrate that ministry.

Monday’s event, a soup cook-off and auction, will be held at 5 p.m. at the Church of the Resurrection, 3501 Cedar Lane in Portsmouth.

Local restaurants — including The Dancing Tomato, Atlantic Shores, Mario’s, FM, and Mannino’s — and amateur cooks have been invited to make their best soups. Guests will vote for their favorites, and the winner will leave with Oasis’ Golden Ladle Award.

Tickets, $25 each, are available at Oasis or online at www.oasissocialministry.org/events.

The Oasis Social Ministry provides some great and important services for people in a part of the city where non-governmental social services can be hard to find. The ministry is worthy of your support.