Mother Marianne’s West Side Kitchen has received a $24,000 charitable grant from the Community Foundation of Oneida and Herkimer Counties as part of the Utica National Food Security Project.

Sr Anne, Lindsey Costello, Diana Houck
Sister Anne McNulty, OSF, with Lindsey Costello (center) from the Community Foundation and Diana Houck (right) from Bev’s Place.

“This grant is truly a blessing as it has the double impact of helping us feed the hungry while supporting local restaurants hard-hit by the pandemic,” noted soup kitchen director Sr. Anne McNulty, OSF.

Bev’s Place, a Whitesboro diner, helped kick off the project by delivering 120 hot meals to the soup kitchen on Thursday, May 27. The meals were distributed in take-out containers.

Thursday’s “chicken and biscuits were a big hit,” Sister Anne said, noting that the plan was to have a local restaurant provide meals twice a week so the impact of the grant could be spread over a couple of months.

She added: “God bless the Community Foundation and Utica National.”