Soup Kitchen Gets $60K Boost from RJ Finlay Foundation

Another big monetary boost has come in at a crucial time for the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, a $60,000 donation from the RJ Finlay Foundation.

Lisa Christie, Executive Director for the Soup Kitchen, said the donation has moved them to within about $50,000 of their $2 million capital campaign goal, which will help make the planned relocation of operations to 2 Quincy Street complete.

"We had submitted a request, and RJ Finlay Foundation wanted to know where we were in relationship to the recent donation match campaign we had going. At that point I told them that we'd meet the match if we received money proposed by the city. They said they wanted to make sure we made the match, so they went forward with the $60,000," Christie said. 

The Board of Aldermen also voted to donate $100,000 to the soup kitchen on Dec. 11, which allowed the soup kitchen to receive another $100,000 in matching donations from two anonymous donors.

"We are also extremely appreciative of the city stepping up. This has been a huge campaign for a community-based campaign, and they have been amazing in their response," Christie said. "I walked by the shelter last week when it was snowing, and there were people standing in line in the wind and the snow, waiting for food. When the new building is operational, no one will ever have to wait in the cold again."

Christie said the current timeline has construction at the old VFW on Quincy Street beginning in the spring of 2014, and lasting about six months, with a goal of being open for business by fall of 2014.

"By this time next year we expect to be able to do holiday distribution in our new space," Christie said. 

That process was happening Dec. 23 and 24 this year, with long lines expected outside the shelter in the cold and rain.
 
Annually, the soup kitchen serves about 80,000 meals a year. They also provide 30 emergency beds serving 350 to 400 people (unduplicated) per year.

Click here to contribute to the Breaking Bread, Breaking Ground capital campaign.