Our Mission: The Belfast Soup Kitchen provides a safe community where our guests can find food, comfort, and hope for the future in an atmosphere of dignity and respect.
Vision Statement: The Vision of the Belfast Soup Kitchen is to reduce hunger in Waldo County by providing nutritious food and connecting guests to resources and education opportunities that can help address the challenges and associated circumstances of food insecurity.
What sets us apart: The Belfast Soup Kitchen is currently the only soup kitchen/food pantry in Waldo County open 5 days a week.
We do much more than just providing a hot lunch every day, we also provide a comprehensive range of services for our community including, takeout meals, evening meals, emergency food box delivery, biweekly grocery delivery, and the HUSH weekend backpack meal program for children. Our Kindness Community Market visits further empower individuals with access to nutritious, healthy food which is often locally sourced. This multi-faceted approach ensures we are meeting the diverse needs within our community.
Rural Barriers: Waldo County and rural Maine provides its own unique challenges. So often lack of transportation means that people cannot access the food and nutrition that they deserve. We combat this by delivering meals to those who lack transportation, or are disabled/unable to leave their home. In 2024, we delivered 38816 meals across Waldo County. We also offer extended hours in our Marketplace to allow a wider range of folks to visit, further ensuring that consistent, nutritious food reaches our neighbors who need it most.
In addition to all of the above, we also have a wide reach in Waldo County. In 2024, we served 8,154 individuals, which accounts for 20% of Waldo County’s population. We can only accomplish this through the dedication of our volunteers who contributed over 14,000 hours of work in 2024, and our community who contribute not only financially, but also in in-kind donations. This strong community backing and investment is a testament to the trust and value the community places in our mission.
A future goal or something you’d love people to know: We would love the community to know that our (the Belfast Soup Kitchen) ability to serve over 36,000 takeout meals, 14,000 dining room meals, and distribute over 200,000lbs of food is possible because of the incredible support from our community – volunteers, donors, and partners. Every hour volunteered, ever dollar given, and every pound of food donated helps us to accomplish our mission and make a real difference in the lives of our neighbors in Waldo County.
thank you to all the great businesses below who donated to our summer swag raffle! we were blown away by the participation (36 businesses!) and the items were just terrific!
congrats to all the winners who had tickets drawn!
AMELIA JACOBSON – AMY HEINRICH – BARB NELSON – BETH STICKLER – CINDY HARNDEN – DANA DEGENHARDT – DARCY HILLYER – DAVID MCCURDY – DEBRA HERNANDEZ – DIANE STURGEON – DOROTHY HAVEY – GARY FISHER – GARY STUCKEY – HILARY HARSTON – JESSAMY FIELD – JOAN PETERSON – JOANNE ANDERSON – KATHLEEN REILLY – MADELINE FRIED – MICHELLE CURTIS – MICHELLE MORROW – MONICA MORRIS – PAM FRACE – SUE FAULKINGHAM – TIFFANY NEMEC – WANDA PILLSBURY
(SOME WINNERS HAD MORE THAN ONE TICKET DRAWN)
(1) Hat, (2) S Tees, (1) XL Tee, (1) YS Hoodie(2) XL Tees(1) Hat, (1) Unisex L Tee, (1) Unisex XL Tee, (1) XL Ladies Tee(1) Tote Bag(3) Hats(1) Hat(1) Sneaker Wings(1) S Tee(1) Hat, (1) Frisbee(1) L Tee(1) SWIG Water Bottle(1) YM Tee, (1) Travel Tumbler, (1) Wooden Buoy, (1) Plush Lobster, (1) Puffin Drinkware Hoodie, (1) Lobster Pen, (1), Maine Flag Bottle Opener Keychain(1) Canvas Tote Bag, (1) Coffee Mug, (1) Hat, (1) Spyglass Keychain, (1) Bumper Sticker, (1) Pen(1) L Tee(1) Belfast History Book, signed by the Authors(2) Hats, (1) Blaze Beanie, Co-op Stickers(1) Hat, (1) Mug(1) XL Sweatshirt(1) M Crew, (1) S Youth Tee, (1) M Youth Tee, (1) S Women’s V-Neck, (1) M Poly-Crew(1) Ladies M Tee, (1) Ladies XL Tee, (1) Unisex XL Tee(2) MugsSwag Bag with (3) Beach Towels, (1) Water Bottle, (1) Drink Koozie, (1) Stress Ball, (1) Tick Key, Sunscreen Lotion and Chapstick (1) Lawn Chair, Swag Bag with (1) Tumbler and Steel Straw, (1) Gemline Travel Mug, (1) Wooden Box with Wine Stopper and Bottle Opener, (2) Stemless Wine Glasses, (1) Collapsible Dog Water Bowl and Leash(1) S Hooded Sweatshirt, (1) M Pullover, (1) S Tee, (1) M TeeSwag Bag with (3) Chevrolet Travel Tumblers, (2) XL Tees, (1) L Tee, (2) Draw String Packbags (4) Drink Koozies, (4) Pens(1) 90-Minute Harbor Row(1) Super Secret Swag BagSwag Bag with (1) Hat, (2) Mugs, (2) Air Fresheners (2) Bottle Openers, (2) Lanyards, and a Sept 2025 Best of Maine Issue of Down East Magazine(1) Hat(1) Sweatshirt(1) Hat, (1) S Women’s Tee(3) Set of 6 Pens(1) Custom Wooden Pen(2) Mugs, (2) Bookmarks, (4) Buttons(1) Hat, (1) Beanie(1) Small Tote Bag
What a great time we had at this year’s Arts in the Park! Even with Saturday rain, we were so glad to see people attend and make it back Sunday too. This event really does kick off the summer season here in Belfast and we couldn’t do it without all of these amazing artists and fine crafters. They greatly appreciate your patronage and support. And thank you for supporting Maine arts and the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce‘s annual event.
The Belfast Parks and Recreation Dept. was a huge help in preparing and working the event weekend with us. Thank you Pam and your whole team for all your work!
Many thanks to all of our great volunteers who help with the jurying process, help with signage, at the information booth, give artists breaks, help with parking, and more.
Many thanks to our great musicians (New Shades of Blue, Jonesville, Belfast Bay Fiddlers, Carolyn Currie, Smoke & Mojo) and food trucks (Portable Pie Place, Fields Fields Blueberries, Stone Fox Farm Creamery, Ruckus Donuts) who helped with the atmosphere and bring the event to life.
And again, thank you for coming and supporting all we do to put this wonderful event on every year.
Mark your calendars for our 30th annual event on June 27 & 28, 2026!
Even with some rain, the 29th Annual Arts in the Park was a success. Our Artist of the Year, Peggy Clark Lumpkins, has signed some of this year’s event posters. They are $20 each and you can get them at our Information Center at 33 Main Street in Belfast. Proceeds will help fund future Arts in the Park events.
