The Preble Street and Wayside Soup Kitchens urgently need the continued help of the Greater Portland community. It is our honor to begin the Stuff the Big Bus Food Drive, and extend the event online.

How you help those who help
Three times a day, seven days a week, lines of people wrap around the corner of Preble and Oxford Streets. There, Preble Street and Wayside operate the largest soup kitchens and food pantry in Maine, providing 330,000 meals a year for homeless and low-income individuals and families.

Preble Street is the 24/7 service hub for our homeless and hungry neighbors and works collaboratively to provide accessible, barrier-free services to empower people experiencing problems with homelessness, housing, hunger, and poverty; and to advocate for solutions to these problems, including:

- Breakfast Program: Open 7 days a week, serves 95,000 meals a year

- Food Pantry: Provides 185,000 emergency grocery meals a year

- Teen Center Kitchen: Provides 13,000 meals a year to runaway and homeless youth

- Adult and Family Day Shelter, Teen Center, and Lighthouse Shelter, Logan Place, and Women's Shelter Offer overnight shelter for youth and women, day shelter for adults and youth, and permanent supportive housing.

Visit our web site for more information.

Wayside's Vision: All people should have access to the food they need.

Wayside Soup Kitchen works toward fulfilling its mission by providing dinner every night of the year and lunch Monday through Friday at 252 Oxford Street in Portland. Evening meals are 'staffed' by different churches, synagogues and organizations. Wayside Food Rescue collects donated food and distributes it, free of charge, to food pantries, soup kitchens, and group homes throughout southern Maine.

Soup Kitchen Numbers:

Total Meals served in 2006 = 125,330
Increase over first 9 months 2007 over same period 2005 = +23.3%
Cost per Meal 2006: $1.64
Volunteers per year: >2,500

Food Rescue Numbers, 2006:

Pounds of food donated: 1,623,988
Pounds of food distributed: 1,503,014
Cost to save the food: 7¢/pound
Pantries and Soup Kitchens Served: 104

For more information, visit our web site at www.waysidesoupkitchen.org.

Every Dollar Goes a Long Way
Here is what your online donation is worth:
$16.00 = 100 lbs of food
$32.00 = 200 lbs of food
$64.00 = 400 lbs of food
$120.00 = 800 lbs of food
For $320.00, you could even supply a ton (2,000 lbs) of food!

Audio Files

Volunteer: Barry

Volunteer: Lilly

Client: Jay