Community Spotlight
The Friendly Kitchen
Northeast Delta Dental is very much involved in the surrounding communities; and, each month, you will find many Northeast Delta Dental colleagues volunteering and serving community nonprofits. Periodically, we will feature one of these organizations in our Community Spotlight.
The Concord Friendly Kitchen, started in 1960, has served over 600,000 meals to all in need that have come through its doors. It has only one mission, and that is it “seeks to provide a meal for the hungry in a warm and caring non-discriminating environment through the coordination of community volunteer resources.”
The Friendly Kitchen is staffed by volunteers that plan the menus; prepare, cook, and serve the meals; and wash dishes, pots and pans, and clean up after each meal. These volunteers also work behind the scenes to obtain food and stock the pantry. Most of this food is obtained through food drives, Community Supported Agriculture farms, corporate and private donations, the NH Food Bank, and the Capital Regional Food Program.
One night a month is ‘Northeast Delta Dental’ night at the Friendly Kitchen, and this video shows some of our volunteers preparing dinner and sharing about their experiences of volunteering at the kitchen.
The economy has been tough on everyone, especially on programs that require donated goods and financial support to provide services, such as regional food programs like the Friendly Kitchen. During the month of September, all company employees were involved in a food drive to stock the pantry at the Friendly Kitchen of some much-needed supplies and staple food items, collecting 1,164 items.
