Oakland - Mother's Kitchen

Contact: Kasturi Mattern
Email: Kasturi108@yahoo.com
Tel No.: 510-524-6686
Alternate Contact: Preeti
Email:vmarlow@silcon.com
Tel No.: 925-254-5565

Where & When:

New Location: Mother's Kitchen has moved to Berkeley near the Oakland border. We now cook and serve a hot lunch meal on the fourth Thursdays of the month at South Berkeley Community Church, member of the Berkeley Hunger Project, located at 1802 Fairview Street, corner of Ellis Street, near the Ashby BART station. Cooking begins at 9:00 a.m, and goes til about 11:00, then Dining Room Prep begins and we need lots of volunteers between 11:45 and 1:45 to help with serving, dining room management and clean-up. All are welcome! We also help serve meals on some other Thursdays 11:45 am - 1:00 pm, as well. For more information, contact Kasturi at 510-524-6686, kasturi108@yahoo.com or Preeti at 925-254-5565, vmarlow@silcon.com

"Our project began in 1996, at St. Andrew's-St. Joseph's Soup Kitchen, 3220 San Pablo Avenue, where we served with wonderful Shirley Webber who prepared meals at the Soup Kitchen five days a week and some Saturdays, plus organizing clothing giveaways, special holiday meals and gift-giving, and also providing school supplies and snacks to homeless children. Sadly the Soup Kitchen had to close in August 2006, due to lack of funding and closure of the parish. Oakland Mother's Kitchen Project is on hiatus until a new location can be found."

Our Story
In 1996, we were looking for a Soup Kitchen that would allow us to cook our own (vegetarian) food and serve it on a monthly basis. Some kitchens were so large and well-funded that they only wanted us to come in and help serve their meals. Others that were smaller, insisted on meat dishes.

Many churches suggested we help out at St. Andrew's - St. Joseph's Soup Kitchen, which is small, struggling and not much funded. We visited the site and met Shirley Webber the regular cook Monday through Friday. The small kitchen was clean and smelled good, with greens cooking on the stove.

All of her food is donated, and the need was obvious there. Shirley Webber was very welcoming to us, and so we've been there ever since! We started off with a small group of devotees who were already acquainted with each through satsang at MA Center, and living in the same neighborhoods, plus others who came primarily through word of mouth.

We have had lots of turnover in the 5+ years since we began, with people going to India, moving, changing work schedules, etc., but there is a core of close to 30 people who continue to be committed to Mother's Kitchen Project. Special thanks to Semifreddi's bakery for monthly bread donations.

--- A report by Mother's Oakland children.

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