Sunday Kitchen
Dorchester, Boston · running since 2025 · partner: named local church kitchen
What it is
Every Sunday, a partner church kitchen in Dorchester opens for four hours. Anyone who comes eats. Anyone who needs to take food home leaves with a grocery box. There is no means test, no registration requirement and no sermon attached.
The foundation covers food costs, insurance, the kitchen’s utility contribution and a stipend for two paid coordinators. Everything else is volunteer labour — 1,880 hours of it last year.
Why we fund it this way
Most food programmes spend a large share of their budget on eligibility screening. We decided the screening cost more than the food it saved, and that being turned away is the part people remember. So we removed it.
What we got wrong
The first six months we ordered too much fresh produce and threw away roughly 9% of it. We switched to a shorter order cycle in Q2 and cut waste to under 3%. That mistake cost about $1,400, and it is in the ledger below.
Quarterly breakdown
The full year.
Budget
Where the $38,400 went.
| Line | Detail | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Food and produce | Weekly orders, 48 weeks | $21,600 |
| Grocery boxes | Packaging and dry goods | $6,300 |
| Coordinator stipends | Two part-time roles | $6,000 |
| Insurance and permits | Liability, food handling | $1,900 |
| Utilities contribution | Paid to partner kitchen | $1,200 |
| Produce waste, Q1 | Over-ordering, since corrected | $1,400 |
| Total | Cost per meal $2.29 | $38,400 |
About $4.40 a week to keep one family fed every Sunday. A $50 monthly gift covers two households for a full twelve months, with change left over.
From the kitchen