St. John's Kitchen is a thriving community of hundreds of people who work together for a common goal: the redistribution of food that would have been otherwise wasted. Most of the work of St. John's - the preparing of meals, the distribution of food and looking after others, lies outside of the economy and completey within the community. This unique model allows people to measure goodness in themselves and each other without monetary influence. A place where time is not money.

With a limited staff, the Kitchen operates with the abilities of approximately 100 volunteers, 80% of whom are also patrons. People are thus able to apply their skills and continue productive work when they find themselves out of the paid workforce.

St. John's Kitchen, located at 97 Victoria Street North in downtown Kitchener, is a gathering place within a neighborhood. Kitchen equipment and food is made available in order that many people from all walks of life can work cooperatively in the true sense of a direct democracy, building trust, respect and friendships along the journey.

Five Main Services of St. John's Kitchen

1. Drop-in Centre from 9:00a.m. - 1:00p.m.
   While St. John's Kitchen provides daily meal service, it is also a drop-in centre used by over 100 people before the meal each day.
   Breakfast of bread, peanut butter, jam, cheese, muffins, donuts, bagels and coffee is available each day in conjunction with the drop-in.
2. Hot Lunch
   A main hot lunch meal serves at least 280 people five days a week. These meals consist of donated and surplus food that is turned into salads, soups, vegetable and vegetarian dishes, meat dishes, sandwiches, desserts and coffee.
3. Marketplace
   A marketplace with food items for people to take home to prepare. This food comes through the Foodbank of Waterloo Region, Second Harvest program. We bring food in and prepare it for distribution.
4. General Assistance
   At St. John's Kitchen, we offer general assistance such as vouchers for clothing at St. Vincent de Paul, assistance with Ontario Works, and other forms of advocacy, troubleshooting and support.
5. Kitchener Downtown Community Health Clinic
   We continue to build on our relationship with the Kitchener Downtown Community Health Clinic which operates a clinic at St. John's Kitchen between 10:00a.m. - 1:30p.m. each Tuesday.

For more information, please call Jennifer at (519) 745-8928 or fax (519) 743-9452.