Kimberton Waldorf Provides Soup to St. Peter's Place, Episcopal House

Editor's Note: The following was submitted on behalf of Kimberton Waldorf School. 

The Food for Thought organic lunch program at Kimberton Waldorf School is now providing fresh soup to the residents at St. Peter’s Place and Episcopal House each Wednesday, a much-needed service for low-income residents who live at both facilities.

St. Peter’s Place and Episcopal House are low-income housing developments subsidized by the federal government Housing and Urban Development Division specifically for the elderly located in Phoenixville.

“There’s nothing I like better than being in the company of seniors,” said Karen Flores, Kimberton Waldorf School’s kitchen manager. “When this opportunity presented itself, I didn’t hesitate. I see it as a way to bring the community together to help each other. Several of the kitchen volunteers chip in and students deliver the soup. Doing this is part of our mission.”

The Food for Thought program recently received a mini-grant to launch “UR What U Eat,” a cooking class for the clients of St. Peter’s Food Pantry. Participants will spend several hours at the school’s kitchen learning how to make healthy, easy meals for their family and afterward, they will not only bring a quantity of the food home, they will also get the ingredients to make the meal at home with their family.

“We are so grateful to the Phoenixville Area Health Foundation for seeing the merit of this program,” said Mary Hirsch, director of development at Kimberton Waldorf School. “We’ve been blessed to have a beautiful campus with a bountiful garden, and we’re surrounded by farms and stores with generous people who want to get involved with this program. It is a great opportunity for forming partnerships that can have a lasting impact on the community. This is just the start!”

The first delivery of soup at St. Peter’s Place was in January and social worker Bethany Piccone shared that the residents were lined up for their container way before the arrival time in anticipation of a great, fresh meal.

Kimberton Waldorf School has been providing fresh food from the garden, and in the colder months, fresh soup, to St. Peter’s Food Pantry for several years. This expanded to include helping many local people who are ill, just out of the hospital, or with a newborn at home.

For more information about Kimberton Waldorf School, where nearly 100 high school students clock in more than 5,000 service hours each year, go to www.Kimberton.org.