Mary's Kitchen welcomes supporters to open house after major renovation
Mary’s Kitchen Executive Director Jim Godfrey welcomes Father Tom Warren, Rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, to the re-dedication reception.
Mary’s Kitchen celebrated a re-dedication on Sunday September 24th, capping a major renovation project. The time-honored soup kitchen located on Independence Street held an Open House from 2 to 4 p.m. welcoming clients, volunteers, and supporters to tour the freshly updated building.
Executive Director Jim Godfrey showed visitors the modernized facilities which include new storage units, reorganized space for freezers and refrigerators, new stainless-steel cabinets and counters in the kitchen, and repainted rooms throughout.
He explained that while the Episcopal Church Women of St. Mary’s have done several deep cleans of the kitchen in the past few years, there has been no significant updating since Mary’s Kitchen moved into this building 37 years ago. While the soup kitchen Board worked on building up renovation funds within the budget, local leaders also played a role. Godfrey noted that the leadership of state Senator Jim Perry and support from Representative Chris Humphrey helped secure grant funds from the state.
“This project will allow Mary’s Kitchen to be run in a more efficient manner, especially in the sorting and storage of food items,” Godfrey commented. He was especially pleased with the clean updated look. “We really want to be a facility with a warm and welcoming atmosphere.”
Mary’s Kitchen was established as a major community outreach project of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church 39 years ago. It has since operated with support from numerous local churches and volunteer service groups. The Kitchen offers a hot meal every day.
A special cake commemorates the Mary’s Kitchen renovation.
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