Greenfield’s Stone Soup Café receives ‘a great holiday present’ in $50K grant

Kirsten Levitt, executive director and chef at Stone Soup Café, cooks up vats of cranberry sauce ahead of the Thanksgiving meal. Health New England has awarded $50,000 to Stone Soup Café, which Levitt said will “fund about five weeks of our work.”

Kirsten Levitt, executive director and chef at Stone Soup Café, cooks up vats of cranberry sauce ahead of the Thanksgiving meal. Health New England has awarded $50,000 to Stone Soup Café, which Levitt said will “fund about five weeks of our work.” STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Workers fill cups of soup for Thanksgiving meals at Stone Soup Café in Greenfield. Health New England has awarded $50,000 to Stone Soup Café.

Workers fill cups of soup for Thanksgiving meals at Stone Soup Café in Greenfield. Health New England has awarded $50,000 to Stone Soup Café. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 12-30-2024 10:40 AM

GREENFIELD — Health New England has awarded $50,000 to Stone Soup Café, the only Franklin County entity to receive funds in this round of a grant program that was set up to honor the former president and CEO of Baystate Health and chair of Health New England’s board of directors.

The pay-what-you-can meal site will use the money from the Dr. Mark A. Keroack Health Equity Grant Program to help meet the increased need for food assistance by funding additional meals on Saturdays, plus food and supplies at its Community Store.

“It was a great holiday present and we’re really grateful to Health New England,” said Kirsten Levitt, executive director and chef at Stone Soup Café.

While Levitt said she is appreciative of the $50,000, she mentioned that sum is less than 10% of her organization’s overall budget due to rising costs and demand. The organization prepared 32,000 meals last year and 34,500 in the first 11 months of 2024.

“This [grant] basically will fund about five weeks of our work,” Levitt said, given the “current fiscal landscape.”

According to the Greater Boston Food Bank’s fourth annual statewide report on Food Equity and Access in Massachusetts, about 37% of Franklin County households face food insecurity. Statewide, 34% of people are food insecure, up from 19% in 2019, the study says.

The other grant recipients were Community Legal Aid’s Pioneer Valley Farmworker Medical-Legal Partnership in Springfield, Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, The Care Center and Wellspring Community Harvest.

“There were 24 [grant] applicants and five were chosen,” Levitt said.

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“I don’t know of many social factors that affect health more than the regular availability of nutritional food,” Keroack said in a statement. “When people are worried about whether they or their children will eat, all other health considerations become afterthoughts. Stone Soup’s programs help fill the growing need and it is a special honor for me that a grant in my name is helping.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.