Soup kitchens across New Jersey are serving more patrons as demand rises for products and services

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On a recent Thursday afternoon, Mercer County, New Jersey resident Sharon Horne stopped by the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, known as TASK, for lunch. While eating meatballs, rice and mixed vegetables, she said the food was quite good and the atmosphere was relaxing.

“They treat me like family, with respect, and I love them for that, and that’s what I’ve been looking for, people that care for the community,” Horne said.

She said anyone who is hungry can get fed.

“This is an open community for anybody, and there ain’t no such thing as, ‘One gets this, one gets that.’ They all gotta get equal,” Horne added.

Horne is currently unemployed, but she said her prospects are bright to get a job.

“I would recommend people come here, it’s wonderful,” she said. “They also help you with IDs, Social Security, housing, everything you want, they got it here.”

Amy Flynn, CEO of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, said as poverty rates rise, demand for food has been increasing about 30% a year, every year, since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the kitchen is now preparing almost 13,000 meals a week.

“Over the last year we served more meals than ever. We served over 675,000 meals in the last calendar year, the most ever in the history of the organization,” Flynn said.

She believes there has been a major surge in food insecurity, and hunger is everywhere, not just in Trenton.

“So many people can identify what it means and what it feels like to be hungry, and we just see more and more of that every day,” she said.

Anna Marchessault, the annual fund and marketing manager of Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, has seen a similar uptick in demand. She said that during the government shutdown last November, Cathedral Kitchen served a record number of guests. In a statement to WHYY News, she said “our highest daily total exceeded 800 individuals, more than double our pre-pandemic average.”

She said many of the individuals seeking a meal come in as a family.

“As proposed changes to SNAP and Medicaid take effect, and inflation continues to hit low-income Americans, we expect at least 15% more guests this year compared to last,” she said.

Millions of Americans are expected to lose some of or all of their benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program due to changes to the program implemented in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Additionally, millions more are expected to lose health care coverage via Medicaid in the coming years.

It’s the same story at soup kitchens across the region. St. John’s Soup Kitchen in Newark reported a more than 30% increase in demand for food over the past three years, and many patrons are members of the same family.

Flynn said getting food at TASK is a simple process.

“If you’re hungry, come in, our doors are open to anyone, just come in, have a seat and share a meal. This is a community here, no questions asked,” she said.

In addition to serving lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday, and lunch only on Friday and Saturday, TASK offers bagged-to-go meals, and full meals are also placed outside the soup kitchen when the doors are closed.

TASK also delivers food to senior centers, schools and community centers.

“We also have our food truck that goes out into the community, and you can just take a meal right from the truck,” Flynn said.

Roxy White, the dining room monitor at TASK, said a wide variety of food is prepared daily.

“Most of the time we have chicken, beef or fish but no pork,” she said. “Also, there’s a full salad bar, different kinds of beans and usually there’s fruit over there as well.”

White said that patrons at TASK are fed more than food.

“We have art, music and computer classes, we feed their mind, body and soul,” she said.

Adam Livow, the director of culinary operations, also oversees a chef training program.

“It’s a 10-week, very, very in-depth comprehensive culinary program where we do everything from kitchen math to recipe comprehension to cooking procedures and techniques to knife skills,” he said.

Flynn said when students complete the program, they are able to walk into a commercial kitchen and get hired as a chef.

“But they also learn all the soft skills that you need to be employed,” she said. “How to show up on time, how to be a good teammate.”

Shantell Bacon-Jones went through the culinary program three years ago. She now works as part of the kitchen staff at TASK.

“I make my own dressings for the salad station, some dishes are for vegans, and I come up with my own style to present on the salad station for the patrons,” she said. “Cooking is my passion, cooking is my life.”

Michele Wexler, the chief development officer, said a patron services window  provides many different items without charge.

“Patrons can get all of the basic necessities that they need for survival,” she said. “We can offer folks hats, gloves, scarves, socks and hand-warmers, but also hygiene products, it helps people offset some of their normal expenses.”

She said 1,000 hygiene kits were distributed during January.

Flynn said supporting organizations like TASK is very important.

“We are meeting a basic human need, we make sure that people know that they are welcome,” she said. “There’s no questions asked and if they’re hungry, we’re here for them, no matter what.”

She pointed out that TASK does not rely on government funding to operate.

“Many times people will want to drop off canned goods and that’s wonderful, but when we’re serving over 12,000 meals a week, we want to serve the same meals to everyone that comes through the door,” she said. “We buy in bulk so being able to give financial support lets us stretch those dollars and make that money go further.”

Flynn stressed TASK is committed to helping lift people out of poverty.

“We have some work readiness programs, and we try to help people connect with employment services,” she said. “If people want to help, volunteers are always needed and they can find out how to sign up on the TASK website. We are so thankful for their help.”