Masbia Soup Kitchen Network’s emergency food programs serve over 2 million meals a year in two main categories. We serve roughly 100,000 hot, sit-down dinners to clients at our restaurant-like soup kitchens, and the rest in emergency care packages with the equivalent of 9 meals worth of groceries for every member of the family.

Hot Meals:

Masbia goes to great lengths to provide nutritious food to our clients, including as much fresh produce as possible. The meal, which is served by volunteer waiters, includes a starter salad, beverage, soup, a protein (like chicken or fish), two hot side dishes, and dessert. We place great emphasis on serving our clients with dignity and respect, seen both in the food we serve and in the restaurant-like setting in which it is served. Providing these meals requires immense resources including a full-time kitchen and chef, hundreds of weekly volunteers to prepare food, greet the guests and serve the clients. Our hot dinner service caters to the old and frail, the homeless, and people who are in a crises situation with no means to cook for themselves. We serve roughly 2,000 hot dinners each week out of our three locations.

Emergency Food Packages:

The gold standard of an emergency food package is to include enough food for three meals for three days for every member of the family. We model our packages on the MyPlate meal size recommendations, which include grains, fruits and vegetables, and protein. The package size varies relative to family size (see our guide for how we create the packages). The packages cater more to women and children who have a home to cook in but have no means to buy raw ingredients.

We try our best to provide our clients with fresh food, versus canned or processed food. Masbia goes out of its way to procure fresh produce, including picking it up from local farmers’ markets. Protein can be as cheap as peanut butter and beans, or as expensive as chicken or beef. Trying to give our clients a dignified balance is our ongoing challenge. On the one hand, we try to be true to our donors’ money by getting the most volume for their dollars, and on the other hand, we try to be true to our donors’ wishes by giving clients high-quality foods. Not only do we stretch our donors’ dollars, but we also cherish your dollars by constantly pursuing large quantities of donated food to put in the packages.

In order to create the packages we distribute, we require close to 50,000 pounds of food each week. The sheer volume of food that comes in and out on a weekly basis takes an enormous toll on our staff, volunteers, facilities, and equipment. The receiving and the packaging rely heavily on volunteers. Close to 100,000 volunteer hours are clocked at our network every year. We distribute roughly 40,000 meals a week in our emergency food package distribution.

How You Can Help:

For $10 you can sponsor a hot meal and for $72 you can sponsor a family food package. Our donation page has various combinations of sponsorships that are multiples of $10/$72. You can also choose to sponsor one of our sites by the day for $5,000, by the week for $30,000, or the month for $118,000. We will post your sponsorship on the walls of our dining rooms during a time of your choosing. Your donation will have an immediate impact. It will be converted into food in less than one week and distributed to clients in less than two weeks. It will also have a direct impact on the quality of food we are able to distribute as mentioned above. Donate today to make a difference.

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