Emergency Soup Kitchen Ready for Thanksgiving Meal

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The holidays are here, and the Anderson Soup Kitchen is preparing to serve a full Thanksgiving dinner Wednesday to all in need.

Feeding the community is nothing new for this organization. The Kitchen, which reopened this week at former Roy’s Diner location on South Main Street in September of 2023, offers a free, hot lunch, no questions asked, with on-site dining in a restaurant-style settlng Monday-Friday from 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Meals to go are also available.

Leaders of the group said the need continues to grow in Anderson.

The mission of the kitchen is to help address the food insecurity needs of the area with meals provided through the support of local agencies and individuals, including the Abney Foundation, the Foothills Foundation, the United Way of Anderson and Grace Episcopal church.

In South Carolina, food security averages 12.60 percent, making the state the 8th-hungriest, with a food insecurity rate 18 percent higher than the national average of 10.4 percent.

The Soup Kitchen was started in Grace Episcopal Church’s Gadsden house in 1982, and later moved to a location owned by the City of Anderson on West Franklin Street.

Board members of the Anderson Emergency Soup Kitchen said the new location has offered greater potential to meet the goals of the ministry, including creating a place for fellowship.

Heading into the Christmas season, the Kitchen can use financial donations and donations of hams for their big December meal.

For more information on how to volunteer or donate, visit here.