A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, soup kitchens are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church or community groups. Soup kitchens sometimes obtain food from a food bank for free or at a low price, because they are considered a charity, which makes it easier for them to feed the many people who require their services.
The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line due to low-income jobs and low familial household income. These are people who spend at least 27 weeks in a year working or looking for employment, but remain under the poverty threshold.
Food for Life Global is a non-profit vegan food relief organization founded in 1995 to serve as the headquarters for Food for Life projects. Food for Life Global has its roots in ISKCON dating back to 1974. It is a completely independent non-profit organization that supports the work of Food for Life projects both inside and outside of ISKCON. Its network of 291 affiliates span the globe, with projects occupying over 65 countries. Volunteers provide over 1 million free meals daily. Food For Life engages in various sorts of hunger relief, including outreach to the homeless, provision for disadvantaged children throughout India, and provision for victims of natural disasters around the world.
Yad Sarah is the largest national volunteer organization in Israel. Employing over 6,000 volunteers, with a salaried staff of 150, Yad Sarah serves over 350,000 clients each year. It is best known for its free loans of over 244,000 pieces of medical and rehabilitative home-care equipment annually, enabling sick, disabled, elderly and recuperating patients to live at home. This saves the country's economy an estimated $320 million in hospital fees and long-term care costs each year.
Colel Chabad was founded in 1788 and is the oldest continuously operating charity in Israel. The institution runs a network of soup kitchens and food banks, dental and medical clinics, daycare centers, widow and orphan support, and immigrant assistance programs. It also provides interest-free loans, camp scholarships, career training and job placement, subsidized weddings for the poor, and many other social-welfare projects.
Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman is an Orthodox Rabbi who serves as the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine.
Young Heroes is a charity, based in Mbabane, Swaziland. With a focus on orphaned and vulnerable children and their elderly caretakers, Young Heroes directly addresses the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Swaziland — the nation with the world’s highest rate of infection — on three fronts: education and prevention; healthcare; and impact mitigation/poverty reduction.
Martha's Table is a non-profit organization, an active charity and volunteer center in the Washington, D.C., area.
Tkiyet Um Ali, is a Jordanian non-governmental organisation founded by Princess Haya in honour of her late mother Queen Alia.
Leket Israel, The National Food Bank, a registered nonprofit Israel-based charity, is the leading food rescue organization in Israel, serving 175,000+ needy people weekly. Leket Israel rescues surplus agricultural produce and collects excess cooked meals for redistribution to the needy throughout Israel via its network of 200+ nonprofit organization (NPO) partners.
City Mission Academy is a private, non-denominational Christian, charitable organization and K-5 school operating in the community of Brightmoor, Detroit, since 1998.
Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the northeast San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California.
The Milwaukee Rescue Mission (MRM) provides meals, shelter, education and recovery services to struggling men, women and children. MRM's mission statement says:
Sharing God's love by caring for those who are poor in body, mind and spirit, to see lives transformed through Christ to hope, joy and lasting productivity.
The HAYIM Association for Children with Cancer in Israel is a non-governmental organization that works on a voluntary basis to provide relief and support for pediatric oncology patients in Israel.
The Institute for the Advancement of Education in Jaffa is a non-profit, multi-service social agency located in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel. The Institute was founded by Dr. David Portowicz in 1982. In 2001, the Institute was awarded the President’s Prize for Most Outstanding Voluntary Organization.
Many street children in Latin America, who either live or work in the streets of developing countries, are impoverished. Although most are still in contact with their families, almost all street children spend a significant portion of their days working on the streets for money. As the population of street children in Latin America has grown, public opinion of street children has decreased, putting them at risk for victimization and abuse by strangers and public officials. Many non-government organizations have begun rehabilitation and outreach programs to treat the growing population of street children.
Yad Eliezer is a Jewish poverty-relief organization in Israel. It is best known for its monthly distribution of thousands of family food packages, baby formula and baby food packages. It also provides a range of financial and rehabilitative support services, including the mentoring of boys from single-parent families and free or low-cost weddings at its wedding complex in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem. Founded as a small, neighborhood chesed organization, it is now one of the largest poverty-relief organizations in Israel, with over 12,000 volunteers. Led by Orthodox Jewish management, it provides services for both religious and secular families in Israel.
Child poverty in the United States is experienced by a large proportion of kids. As of 1992, children were the largest age group living below the poverty line, and around 1 in 5 children were affected as of 2016. Child poverty is measured using absolute and relative methods. It is caused by many factors, including race, education, and family structure, but ultimately race correlates with these factors. There are multiple effects due to this. Effects on health and development cause lifelong problems and lower educational outcomes, and food insecurity can also be caused by child poverty. The United States government has put in place programs using tax credits and transfers. There are also community programs that have impacted specific communities that have high child poverty rates. For future policies, research suggests that greater investment directed to children and families in poverty and connections between healthcare providers and financial services can lower the child poverty rate.
Joel Landau is a Modern Orthodox rabbi. He is associated with Yad Ezra V’Shulamit, an organization providing help to people in need throughout Israel, and The Kemach Foundation whose mission is to make positive impact in Israeli society, by contributing to its economic development, and providing resources and support for the members of the ultra-Orthodox community. Currently he serves as the executive director of “Israel Up Close Productions”, a non-profit film production company that researches and reports on how Israeli innovations improve the everyday life of people across the world.
St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance is a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization located in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1967 by John van Hengel, St. Mary's was the first modern organization to operate using the food bank model, which spread throughout U.S. and the rest of the world. Today, St. Mary's is recognized as the world's first food bank.
