St. Christopher’s To Operate 'Satellite Kitchen’ For Food 4 Kids

CHATHAM – As participation in the local Food 4 Kids summer program continues to increase year over year, the effort will get some added support from St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church next year.

 The church will serve as the site of a satellite kitchen next summer, preparing meals that will be prepared for delivery to youth programs in Chatham and Harwich. The addition will help relieve the demand on volunteers at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans, where the Food 4 Kids program has prepared free meals for children from Harwich to Provincetown on summer weekdays.

 “This is an important step toward making our program more sustainable,” Jenn Gale, executive director of the Cape’s Food 4 Kids program, said in a statement. “We’ve seen tremendous growth in the demand for our services over the last two summers. We want to maintain a high-quality operation that is manageable for our staff and volunteers while continuing to provide children with delicious, high-nutritient meals and free books. Partnering with St. Christopher’s allows us to build a stronger foundation for the future.” 

 More than 405,000 meals have been served to children from Harwich to Provincetown since the program’s inception in 2013. In 2025, 56,864 meals were served, an increase of 10,000 meals over the previous year, according to statistics on the Cape Food 4 Kids website.

 In the release Gale said that as many as 900 meals per day have been served through the program in the past two years. The increased demand led Food 4 Kids to explore partnerships to take some of the demand off of volunteers at the Church of the Holy Spirit.

 The Rev. Jennifer Zogg said when she came to St. Christopher’s in the summer of 2025, she sought out ways for the church to get involved in the community. She learned about the Food 4 Kids program through the Rev. Patrick Ward at the Church of the Holy Spirit. Upon learning of the growing demand for the program’s services, she said a steering committee was formed to see how St. Christopher’s could help.

 “Children have meals during school, and then during the summer time those go away,” Zogg said. “So providing some of the food security that the schools provide during the year, it just fits so well with our mission.”

 Last spring, the steering committee worked with Food 4 Kids and the Church of the Holy Spirit on a plan for how St. Christopher’s could get involved. Last summer, approximately 40 parishioners from St. Christopher’s volunteered preparing lunches for the program in Orleans to familiarize themselves with how things worked.

 “I was so delighted by the parish’s response,” Zogg said. “This really came from them at my encouraging.”

 “This is what outreach looks like in practice: recognizing a need in our community and working together to meet it,” Ward said in the release. “Food 4 Kids is a ministry built on the generosity of people who believe every child deserves nourishing food and the opportunity to enjoy a book. Partnering with St. Christopher’s allows us to build relationships across our parishes, strengthening the reach of this shared ministry.” 

 Looking ahead to 2027, volunteers at St, Christopher’s will take on preparing approximately 300 daily lunches that will be delivered to youth programs in Chatham, Harwich and perhaps other communities as needed, Zogg said. Meals will be prepared in the church’s kitchen, with foods and supplies stored downstairs. The packaged meals will then be packed in coolers, which will be transported to the program sites.

 “I think there’s a recognition that it’s not getting easier, that it’s only getting harder for families,” Zogg said. “And there’s also a real desire to do something in a tangible way that can meet that need, and there’s nothing more tangible than putting together a sandwich and packing a lunch.