Started as an elementary school in 1908, Cathedral Kitchen has undergone many transformations to become the haven it is today. It began its feeding of the poor during a critical time in American history in 1928 on the campus of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. During the Great Depression in the 1920s and 1930s, it served sandwiches as a soup kitchen, and then served coffee and doughnuts throughout the 1930s. In the 1970s, it sponsored a Sunday meal, which evolved into a breakfast program, brunch, and a food pantry in the 1990s. After the elementary school closed, operations moved from the Cathedral into the school. Now, Cathedral Kitchen serves meals seven days a week, and produces 3,200 meals per month, while the food pantry that operates Tuesdays and Thursdays serves 1,080 households per month with food and basic necessities. In the cold winter months, Cathedral Kitchen provides incredibly important services to the area.
When asked about the Kitchen’s mission, Director Dr. Margie Pike stated that the mission of Cathedral Kitchen remains very simple: feed the poor, hungry, and/or marginalized and serve them with compassion and love. She noted that they do not ask for IDs, allowing anyone to come who is hungry to eat at their doors. Breakfast and lunch are served five days a week, with dinner also offered during a few of those days. There is also a lunch program on Saturday and Sunday offers coffee and doughnuts. All of the people who gather for the meals are very “grateful, and also kind,” Pike mentioned. These are people from the surrounding area who are homeless or need food assistance. None are turned away.
In regards to Second Helpings and Cathedral Kitchen, Pike stated that the relationship between the two has lasted a long time. Since 1999, almost since Second Helpings’s inception, Cathedral Kitchen has received casseroles, meats, and other food from Second Helpings. Recently, Second Helpings has grown its food service to Cathedral Kitchen, with the kitchen receiving six pans a week, or about 180 meals per week, which translates into 9,360 meals a year. These meals “take the edge off” the need to constantly buy food and fundraise, according to Pike. In addition, the emergency food provides comfort in the winter, knowing that people will be fed no matter what.
“There is nothing I could ever ask for (from Second Helpings). They serve large amounts of people, and help sustain poor people,” explained Pike. In reference to other agencies receiving food in Indianapolis, she mentioned that some of them complete depend on meals from Second Helpings in order to serve individuals and families in many other ways.
Cathedral Kitchen provides immense support and a shining face to the poor, hungry, and marginalized of the Indianapolis community. Anyone and everyone is accepted at their kitchen and given a nutritious meal. In addition, Cathedral Kitchen also donates food to Second Helpings that cannot be used in their kitchen but can be transformed into hot, nutritious meals by Second Helpings. By supporting one another in multiple ways, Cathedral Kitchen and Second Helpings look to help one another end hunger in Indianapolis.