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.
Click Here for the 2024 Belfast Soup Kitchen Impact Report
Belfast Soup Kitchen
31 Belmont Ave. Belfast, ME 04915 | 207-338-4845 | belfastsoupkitchen.org
