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As the federal government shutdown drags on and SNAP benefits remain on hold, Thelma’s Kitchen in Kansas City is seeing more families and children turning to their low-cost menu for relief.
Thelma's Kitchen is not a food kitchen or a food bank, but since they're focused on helping people stretch their money - and since more people are stretching - they too are preparing for bigger demand.
Located at 31st and Troost, the nonprofit café has made all children’s lunches free - no questions asked - to help parents struggling to put food on the table.
“Kids don't have any control over what's in their refrigerator or their pantry at home, so the pressures on the adults that are caring for them are things that they have to live with, and us sharing with our kids in the community hopefully will be a way to support those adults too,” said Jodi Mathews, Chief Impact Officer at Reconciliation Services.
“One of the ways we are responding to what we know is going to be very extreme need in our neighbors is offering our kids meals for free for anybody that's coming in to have lunch with us here in the cafe a 31st and Troost.”
Thelma’s Kitchen doesn’t receive federal funding or government commodities, and it relies entirely on local donations to cover the cost of those free meals.
“The community network is really important right now. We don't receive any federal funding to support our food work here. We don't get free food giveaways or commodities like some of the other agencies. And so for us, what we're able to subsidize or give away in times like these is really based on the generosity of other community members paying it forward," Mathews said.
Mathews says the focus is on feeding people today, while continuing the cafe's mission of building community through shared meals.
Click here to help Thelma's Kitchen affordable.
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