St. Vincent’s Dining Room Has Provided 60 Years’ of Services.
Full bellies, food security, a way out of poverty — at St. Vincent’s Dining Room, Reno’s first “soup kitchen” that opened in 1961, service is about more than a hot meal. Once a small space where volunteers ladled out soup and served other dishes to the community’s hungry population, St. Vincent’s Dining Room has grown, weathering its booms and busts right alongside the city. For 60 years now, the nonprofit has fed thousands of hungry patrons, using that meal as an entry point to help families find their footing and overcome hard times.
“It is about creating a sense of community and a space where those in need can break bread together,” says Marie Baxter, CEO of Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada, the nonprofit organization that operates St. Vincent’s Dining Room. “It is, and has always been, a cornerstone of our agency.”
Many people experiencing homelessness rely on the kitchen for meals throughout the day, while working community members may visit when money is tight to stretch their dollars until the next paycheck. In addition to serving hot lunches in its location on Valley Road, the St. Vincent’s Dining Room also delivers a hot lunch and dinner daily to anyone staying at the Nevada CARES Campus shelter. Open 365 days per year, St. Vincent’s is there with food at the ready — but that isn’t its only offering. Many become connected to other services through Catholic Charities during that meal — services that can assist in getting folks back on their feet, such as housing assistance and a robust food pantry.
Operating the largest food pantry network in Northern Nevada, Catholic Charities is in the midst of a push aimed at bettering the lifestyles of the community, funded by a grant from Fund for a Healthy Nevada. The food pantry’s wellness component will be enhanced, so that its staff and volunteers will not only hand out monthly food boxes filled with meat, dairy, produce, and shelf-stable food, but also connect those boxes to healthy recipes through social media outreach.
“As part of our desire to help individuals and families in urban and rural Nevada prepare healthier meals, we are creating recipes that are connected to what is available in the monthly pantry box and creating related cooking demonstrations … videos, created by our chef in the St. Vincent’s Dining Room,” Baxter says.
The videos, she explains, are uploaded to the organization’s YouTube channel for easy viewing, and recipes for dishes such as baked tilapia and chicken tuna salad are posted on Facebook and Instagram.
To become part of the legacy, get involved. Baxter says volunteers always are needed to help out at the soup kitchen and pantry locations, and monetary and food donations keep both St. Vincent’s and the pantry program afloat.
For details, visit Ccsnn.org.
Writer Nora Heston Tarte is a longtime Reno resident. You can follow her local exploits and travel adventures on Instagram @Wanderlust_n_wine.
