From Their Kitchen to 400 Homes: The Volunteers Delivering Hope to the Community

Every Friday in a seaside Rhode Island town, Kitchen of Hope prepares hundreds of restaurant-quality meals for seniors, the homebound, and neighbors in need—powered entirely by a committed volunteer community.

Volunteers of all ages pack meals. Delivery drivers check their routes. Bakers slide in one last tray of cookies before drivers head out across the community. By mid-afternoon, 400 hot, nutritious meals are on their way to seniors, the homebound, and households facing food insecurity.

“Kitchen of Hope is not your typical soup kitchen. We offer a free, restaurant-quality meal to anybody who wants one.”
— Craig Marciniak, Director, Kitchen of Hope (South Kingstown, RI)

Most meals are delivered directly to homes—meeting people right where they are. For many, the knock on the door is as meaningful as the meal itself. It’s a comforting reminder that they haven’t been forgotten.

58,000 Meals — and the One That Matters Most

Kitchen of Hope began during the early days of the COVID pandemic with 75 meals a week prepared by just nine volunteers.

“We didn’t know if we’d have enough volunteers," Craig remembers. We didn’t know if the need would still be there.”

They soon learned the need was deeper than any of them imagined.

Some elderly neighbors were living in cars after losing long-term housing to short-term rentals. People with disabilities routinely skipped meals to afford medication. Widows and shut-ins quietly ate Cheerios for dinner so they wouldn’t “take a meal from someone who needed it more.”

The volunteers would not accept that.

“Yes, we’ve served 58,000 meals total since Kitchen of Hope began. But what impresses us most is the number one—one person, one meal, filled with love and compassion. That’s what matters to us.”
— Craig Marciniak

A Menu Crafted With Dignity and Joy

Each week, Craig and their lead chef, Bob, create a menu meant to nourish both body and spirit—always working within a $2-per-meal budget that seems impossible once you see what they prepare: chicken parmesan with roasted vegetables, homemade bread, and desserts.

At Christmas, the menu becomes something extraordinary. Volunteers bake 4,000–6,000 cookies and assemble trays for every household they serve, plus local homeless and domestic violence shelters.

Last year’s holiday dinner included salmon, steak, twice-baked potatoes, and asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. This year’s will feature filet mignon—not because it’s luxurious, but because the people they serve deserve dignity, joy, and something beautiful to look forward to.

This year’s Christmas meal is made possible by an unexpected act of generosity: students at Monsignor Clarke School launched a canned-food drive for Kitchen of Hope. Their effort inspired a donor to award their school a $1,000 grant—money the students immediately passed on to fully fund the Christmas dinner. A gesture of solidarity from young people whose kindness now touches hundreds.

“We Weren’t Going to Allow Someone to Suffer Alone.”

Of the thousands of meals prepared, one story remains especially meaningful to Craig.

“We met this one woman four and a half years ago. She had just started undergoing chemotherapy. She’d just lost a close friend. She really needed help and needed some love, so we started giving her meals.”
— Craig Marciniak

They delivered dinner to her every Friday.

Then in June, her name suddenly fell off the list. Craig called to check in.

She admitted she stopped requesting meals because her latest round of chemo had made everything taste like metal. The only foods she could eat were salmon, shrimp, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. And she would never ask for something special just for her.

She didn’t have to.

“Since June, the volunteers have been making a special meal for her every week. We weren’t going to allow someone to suffer alone.”
— Craig Marciniak

To this day, volunteers visit her home to rake leaves, clean gutters, power wash, and help with anything she needs.

Beyond the Meal: Caring for the Whole Person

Home-delivery volunteers are often the only people some recipients see all week. Drivers notice signs that someone needs help—a cluttered living room, a new walker, a porch step that’s become unsafe. 

From those observations grew Light of Hope, a home-support initiative rooted in community service and care. Volunteers declutter homes, build wheelchair ramps, install safety rails, and do whatever is needed to help neighbors stay safely in their homes

“Our support extends far beyond food. We take care of the whole person.”
— Craig Marciniak

This fall, 73 high school students volunteered alongside Kitchen of Hope—cleaning yards, tending gardens, and helping elderly neighbors prepare their homes for winter.

A Volunteer Family, Ages 12 to 92

Kitchen of Hope has attracted a faithful community of over 100 active volunteers, a blend of high schoolers up to retirees.

“We didn’t go looking for volunteers,” Craig said. “They came to us. They found out through word of mouth, and they just kept coming.”

And one dedicated volunteer has been with them since the early days. Craig mentions proudly, “She’s 92 and was one of the first to use our volunteer sign-up tool, Unison.”

For years, scheduling was done by email. One dedicated volunteer coordinated over 113 people by hand—a time-consuming challenge familiar to many nonprofits managing volunteer schedules. As Kitchen of Hope expanded, though, they began using Unison—a volunteer scheduling tool—to preassign rotations and streamline volunteer coordination, especially for time-sensitive needs.

“We put a pop-up dinner on Unison, and within five minutes—boom—all the slots were filled. It’s one less headache we don’t have to worry about.”
— Craig Marciniak

Unison quietly helps behind the scenes—allowing volunteers to sign up online and fill entire schedules within minutes. Meanwhile, Craig's focus can stay where it belongs: on a future filled with hope. 

Looking Ahead: A New Kitchen, A Bigger Table, and A Thursday Night Bistro

Kitchen of Hope is preparing for its biggest chapter yet.

In early 2026, they will move into a larger, newly renovated kitchen—an almost $750,000 community-funded expansion capable of preparing up to 1,000 meals a week. What was once a kitchen built for 150 meals is becoming a hub that will change lives on a scale they never imagined.

More than 178 new volunteers are already waiting to join as soon as the doors open.

But the expansion is about more than capacity. It’s about community.

That’s why on Thursday nights, Kitchen of Hope will launch a new in-person bistro, a warm, welcoming dining space where everyone sits together—without judgment and without hierarchy.

“There will be no prices on the menu,” Craig explains. “You won’t know who’s homeless or who’s a millionaire. Everyone will sit together.”

Those who can pay will. Those who cannot will be invited to contribute in other ways—folding napkins, helping in the kitchen, or simply sharing a meal with someone who needs company.

The new kitchen won’t just make more food. It will create more belonging.

A bigger table, a brighter light, and a place where the entire community can show up for one another.

“Light Your Candle.”

As Director of Kitchen of Hope, Craig has seen the very best of people—volunteers who show up week after week, neighbors who look out for one another, students who give away their grant money so strangers can enjoy filet mignon on Christmas.

He shares a metaphor about hope...and an invitation for all of us:

“If I turn my lights off, the room becomes completely dark. But if I light a candle, that little bit of light starts to shine. Light your candle, and be the light of hope for your community.”

Kitchen of Hope lives this invitation every Friday evening—one candle, one volunteer, one meal, one serving of love at a time.

Learn more about Kitchen of Hope.