COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN INC
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Mission Statement
The CSK Mission: To feed the hungry, no matter the circumstances. The CSK Purpose: Community Soup Kitchen (CSK) provides healthy and nutritious meals to all who walk through its doors. CSK is committed to improving the quality of life and restoring the dignity of those it serves, when providing hot meals and groceries to anyone in New Haven County. The CSK Vision: We envision a community where each and every individual has access to food, health services, and community engagement in a dignified and mutually respectful environment. The CSK Principles: We feed the hungry; we welcome any person in need of food and comfort We offer needed services to our guests that promote their health and well-being We welcome volunteers who are willing to share in the dignity and struggles of life We model a way of being in the world that is rooted in mutual respect, dignity and joy We run a stable and effective organization designed to sustain itself for the long term We advocate for the needs of our guests by connecting them to other organizations and building awareness in the community
About This Cause
In 1977, a group of local students and leaders founded the Community Soup Kitchen as a way to address food insecurity in New Haven. In doing so, they established a cornerstone of kind, welcoming service in the community. Over the past 45+ years, CSK has transitioned from a small guerrilla organization to a recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit that now serves over 70,000 meals each year. From the very first meal, we have remained grounded in community care, mutual respect, and a desire to genuinely connect with our guests. Today, we remain rooted in the community of New Haven County and stay tuned into the voices of local residents and leaders. Since our founding in 1977, we have operated at our present location continuously, without interruption. Community Soup Kitchen is located in downtown New Haven, CT, using the dining room, commercial kitchen, and other facilities of Christ Church Episcopal. We are open 50 weeks a year, closed for two holidays only, and serve for indoor dining and for take-out. We serve lunch five days per week and breakfast on Saturdays, as well as Tuesday breakfast and Wednesday lunch at other locations in the city. We also provide boxed hot meals to shelters, warming centers, churches, and other places in need. We distribute excess groceries, fruits and vegetables to our guests and others, including local food pantries. We have no preconditions to the use of our services but make them available without qualification and without cost. The generosity of the community that supports us has allowed CSK to remain a steadfast source of comfort and resources in downtown New Haven, and we will continue to expand our services to neighborhoods across the city until the day we are no longer needed. We will forever be grateful for the vision, persistence and determination of the core group of women who started Community Soup Kitchen with the first $100 grant from Dwight Hall (Diane Welborn, Meg Sewell, Glenna Barkan, LaRee Delahunt, Joanne Whitcomb and others), the tireless 30+ years of service of our Coordinator and Advisory Board Chair, David O’Sullivan, and the contributions of so many board members and volunteers over the last fifty years. For anyone interested in the documented history of CSK, we invite you to read through our digital archive. Community Soup Kitchen has served over 2 million meals since we began operation in 1977, and in 2023 we provided 70,000 meals to our guests. We are proud to say that the global pandemic did not interfere with our life-saving mission of feeding those in need in the New Haven Community. Our dining room at 84 Broadway is fully re-opened to our guests, although we still provide take-out meals to any who may prefer that option. Food insecurity is a humanitarian problem, increasing in scale, which disproportionately affects neighborhoods in the city of New Haven. CSK has built a service and meal delivery model over the course of decades that can expand to materially increase the meals being delivered to the hungry in those neighborhoods, while connecting guests to resources that can help reduce the number of food insecure people in the city. In addition to providing nutritious meals in a welcoming environment, we act as a host site for several agencies that offer essential services to our guests. These services include medical attention, blood pressure screening, infectious disease screening, and clothing and toiletries distribution. We operate with a dedicated team of employees and rely heavily upon our volunteers, some of whom have been with CSK for many years. Others are those in drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs or those performing court-ordered community service under the guidance of our paid staff. We also provide opportunities for community service, required by many high schools. We are constantly seeking out new resources and services to provide our guests.