The Community Kitchen, Inc.

The Community Kitchen is committed to providing nutritious meals and groceries while educating and empowering our guests, community, and partners. As a leading advocate for strengthening food security in the Monadnock Region, we offer year-round programs, including hot meals five days a week (in house and at Hundred Nights Shelter) and pantry pick-up of food boxes containing up to nine meals' worth of staples. Our growing mobile pantry extends our reach to neighbors in the region's rural areas.

We believe access to food is a fundamental human right and The Community Kitchen provides nutritious foods in welcoming, dignified ways that foster connection and community-building. Our Programs address food insecurity at the source through innovative food access initiatives that aim to improve the health and well-being of communities in the Monadnock region.

Funds raised during New Hampshire Gives Day on June 10-11 will contribute to fueling our youth programs and keeping children in the Monadnock Region well-fed with nutritious, healthy meals. More than 22% of our regular guests at our pantry are under 18, we recognize that the need for additional nutrition increases when school is not in session. You can help us bolster our offerings for children during the summer months.

Our year-round programs that always include our young guests are:

Hot Meals:

Hot meals are served 5 days a week with a Sunday lunch. ALL ARE WELCOME! Our hot meal program is dedicated to providing nourishment for everyone who walks through our doors, without any questions or qualifications. Whether you’re in need of a warm meal, a cozy place to unwind, or simply some companionship, we encourage you to join us.

Pantry:

Guests are able to take home supplemental food boxes available once a week either through our drive through service on Wednesdays or by visiting our market style pantry on Thursdays. The boxes contain staples such as breads, shelf-stable groceries, protein, fresh vegetables and dairy when possible.

Mobile Pantry:

Mobile Food Pantry and Resource Fairs are hosted by The Keene Community Kitchen and the Healthy Monadnock Alliance. Fresh produce, meat and dairy products and commodities are available at no cost to all eligible residents, as well as resources for SNAP, WIC, Housing, Double Up Veggie Bucks, Heating Assistance, HCS Healthy Starts, and the Pet Food Pantry Program. 

NH GIVES Matching Funds:

We are grateful to a very generous anonymous donor who has offered to match all donations (up to $10,000) dollar for dollar. You can double your impact and help feed school kids for the summer by making a gift today!

Who We Are

The Community Kitchen's mission is to provide healthy free meals and pantry boxes to food insecure community members. We support our guests with information, education, and advocacy to better empower them to meet their nutritional needs. We serve a free dinner Monday-Friday and a free lunch on Sundays. We also have Pantry distribution on Wednesdays and Thursdays - all Pantry clients are verified for income, residency and need so we know that the food is going to those who need it.
We engage in food rescue across various community sectors. We collect food from restaurants and businesses in Keene seven days a week which help us offset the cost of purchasing food. We have volunteers who help us sort product, enabling us to distribute fresh fruit and vegetables. We also glean fresh farm produce that would otherwise go to waste.