Cathedral Kitchen, the largest emergency food provider in Camden, NJ, has worked tirelessly to shift from on-site dining to take out and meal delivery in an effort to provide emergency food aid to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The $15,000 grant from the SJ COVID-19 Response Fund, which is managed by Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ), helped the Cathedral Kitchen team keep up with the rise in food insecurity in the area. The grant also went to providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and hiring additional staff such as chefs and sous chefs.
The grant supported the organization’s ability to manage unexpected extra food costs and their need to purchase take-out boxes, hand wipes, and bottled water for to-go meals. They also increased food delivery to other organizations and housing communities, and revamped programs such as dental care and job placement.
“Yearly, we give out 300 meals to roughly 5,000 people, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a large increase in need,” said Carrie Kitchen-Santiago, Executive Director of Cathedral Kitchen. “The grant from the Response Fund allowed us to serve the larger number of people in need of meals. We are very grateful for the help and are glad to keep serving those in our community.”
“We are so gratified that our Response Fund grant has helped Cathedral Kitchen feed those who are hungry in our South Jersey community,” said CFSJ Executive Director Andy Fraizer. “Thanks to contributions from businesses, foundations and local individuals, we’re able to help Cathedral Kitchen and other organizations transition programs and purchase PPE to stay safe during these trying times.”
The South Jersey COVID-19 Response Fund continues to respond to local nonprofits that need support to serve communities impacted by the pandemic. To date, the Fund has raised more than one million dollars while the requests from nonprofits is at least five times more. To support the only fund where donations stay in our South Jersey region, visit southjerseyresponsefund.org.
About Cathedral Kitchen
Founded in 1976, Cathedral Kitchen currently serves more than 100,000 meals per year utilizing food to nourish, train, and employ people in order to help them improve their lives and energize a healthy community. In addition to serving dinner Monday thru Friday and lunch on Saturday on-site, Cathedral Kitchen provides meals for local after school programs, groceries for low-income senior citizens, and donations for local food pantries, churches, and soup kitchens in the Camden area. They also operate a 17-week Culinary Arts Training Program and a Baking Arts Training Program held concurrently, twice per year, the CK Cafe and catering service, as well as, ongoing dental care and general health screening services. Individuals from across South Jersey of different faiths and backgrounds volunteer their time and talents each year, filling more than 9,000 volunteer slots to help keep overhead costs down.