Our History
How three neighbors, one Thanksgiving dinner, and a borrowed room grew into twenty years of hot meals served with dignity — without missing a single one.
Three women, one urgent need
Three women — Kathleen Myers, Kathleen Berry, and Katherine Rife, all members of the Sunday Supper soup kitchen in Nyack — came together in the belief that there was an urgent need for further food assistance. Intense conversation followed, and Kathleen Myers suggested the perfect name: “Soup Angels.”
The soup kitchen would be non-sectarian. It would cook all its food with attention to quality, healthiness, and flavor, and treat every guest with dignity and care. That meant tablecloths, candles, and music — and guests served restaurant-style by waiters, on china plates with real cutlery.
“A free, hot, nutritious meal to anyone who needs a meal in the Nyack area, no questions asked.”
Twenty years at the table
-
Fall 2006
An idea, and a first Thanksgiving
While the founders were raising funds for an April opening, a benefactor asked whether Soup Angels would host a turkey dinner for neighbors in need — and offered to underwrite it. More than 100 guests sat down to a multi-course Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, including pumpkin and apple pie. It became the template for every Thanksgiving since.
-
2007
Doors open in the Pitkin Room with Wednesday Meals
The First Reformed Church of Nyack offered Soup Angels space in its Pitkin Room — and has done so continuously ever since. Soup Angels has not missed a single meal since opening.
-
2010
Monday Meals begin
Seeing a need in the community for an additional hot meal, Soup Angels added Monday to the schedule.
-
2022
180,000 pounds of groceries
In one year, Soup Angels accepted 180,000 pounds of recovered groceries from local organizations TOUCH and BRIDGES for food-insecure members of our community.
-
January 2024
501(c)(3) recognition
Soup Angels of Nyack became a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our EIN is 92-3726386.
-
2026
Twenty years
Soup Angels celebrates its 20th anniversary — with a celebration and Volunteer Open House on Sunday, November 8.
Not a single missed meal since 2006.
We have served during snowstorms and intense heat, through Hurricane Sandy and the pandemic — because the need doesn't take a day off, and neither do we.
Carried forward by our community
Over 200 volunteers
From Rockland and Bergen Counties, volunteers serve on one or more of our 14 service teams — as shoppers, sous-chefs for the professional chefs and caterers from our community who create the meals, and organizers of our sit-down dining.
Who we're honored to serve
Everyone who needs a meal, no questions asked, including:
With thanks to
We continue our mission thanks to the generosity of: