About Cathedral Kitchen

Cathedral Kitchen has been serving the hungry in Camden, NJ since 1976; we estimate well over two million meals have been served over the past four decades of operation. In addition to the meals we serve at the Kitchen, we also provide meals for after-school programs, and send excess donated food to low-income senior centers, local pantries, churches and soup kitchens that also serve our client population. In 2019 CK provided over 100,000 meals.

In 2009, we developed a Culinary and Baking Arts Training Program. The program runs twice a year for 17 weeks with 30 students each semester. More than 370 students have graduated the program with an 86% job placement rate three months after graduation. It is our goal to provide each student with the kitchen training and life skills to improve their life.

Our Project Smiles Dental Clinic offers free dental care for patients living in Camden and Gloucester cities and Pennsauken, who cannot afford treatment. Volunteer dentists, along with a paid part-time staff consisting of a dentist manager, dental assistant, hygienist and medical assistant. We also partner with other agencies to provide general healthcare, eye exams and legal advice on-site to assist our dinner guests and culinary and baking students.

In December of 2014, we launched our social enterprise businesses which include a contract meal program providing 1,600 meals a day to halfway houses and shelters in Camden, the CK Cafe and catering. This expansion created new jobs, the majority of which we fill with graduates of our training program and/or Camden City residents. CK's social enterprise businesses have also generated a profit which helps to support our human services budget. Our latest venture, the CK Souper Van, is an extension of the CK Cafe, selling food at office parks, festivals and private events while also expanding our food outreach to children and the elderly who may not be able to access our meal program.

The coronavirus has affected both us and our guests. The guests we serve are among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis. By nature of their circumstances they are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill if infected. They face barriers to accessing the health care system and rely heavily on social safety net programs for daily living. Today, their resources are dwindling as shutdowns occur. Several guests have expressed that other agencies where they get their meals and showers are closed, and homeless shelters have reduced their beds to maintain safe social distancing. Prior to the crisis, 79% of our guests came for a meal on average three or more times per week. Our comprehensive Meal Program has been a necessary survival resource for many and for some, their only reliable food source.

Here at CK, we have had to close the dining room in order to follow safety and social distancing guidelines. Guests are given to-go meals at the door, along with take home bags filled with snacks, sandwiches, and drinks. For a time we did not allow anyone other then staff to enter the building, but we have gradually begun to allow both volunteers and students back in limited capacity. Some of our partners have come back in order to serve our meal guests; Project HOPE is providing free COVID-19 testing on Thursdays, Nurse Sara from Camden County is providing information and answering guests' questions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Tom Martin from the Camden County Pop-Up Library is here on Wednesdays giving out free books.

We have also welcomed back small groups of students whose semester was cancelled in March to participate in refresher classes offered by Chef Jill, so that they can take and pass the ServSafe exam. These students and other unemployed adults will be welcomed to enroll in our new 5-week training program that will start in August. This program will focus on soft skills essential for gaining employment, and will assist participants in obtaining jobs in areas that are hiring such as grocery stores. We will be enrolling 10 students per class for safety reasons, and the class will be offered 3 times throughout the fall.