Kansas City Community Kitchen

Each weekday, hundreds of hungry people in downtown Kansas City line up and wait for the clock to strike noon.  For the next two hours, the doors will be open and the Kansas City Community Kitchen will serve between 400 and 600 hot meals. Some of these hungry people are homeless—most have jobs, but do not have enough to eat. They are known as the "working poor" and their population is growing.

Located at 8th and Paseo on the east side of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, the Community Kitchen has been serving noonday meals at no cost to people who are hungry and homeless for the last 25 years. The cornerstone of the Episcopal Hunger Relief Network, the kitchen has a volunteer base of 400 people who come from area Episcopal and other congregations, civic groups, and businesses. Each day dozens will help with food preparation, serving, and cleaning up.

Where does the food come from? Some is purchased at a nominal cost from an area food bank, but more than 70 percent of the food is donated by local merchants and individuals. We receive fresh produce from local community gardens and cuisine from area restaurants and corporations. One day, lunch may be chili made from the venison donated by a local hunting cooperative, while food left over from a hotel banquet is served the next!

Donations and volunteers are the key ingredients of the Community Kitchen’s success. To find out more about food donations and volunteer opportunities, email Erika Rucker or call her at (816) 472-0744.