St. Anthony Dining Room of San Francisco, California

In San Francisco, one in five adults lacks the resources to provide food for themselves or their families. In the Tenderloin that number is as high as one in two. At St. Anthony Dining Room, we hope to offset this lack of basic resources by serving nearly a million hot, nutritious meals each year, at one of the Bay Area’s largest community meal programs. The meals served feed individuals and families who have slipped through the safety net: veterans, seniors, the working poor, homeless and low-income residents, recent immigrants, recent parolees, and the mentally and addictively ill. A fundamental component of the Dining Room meal service is to welcome each guest with dignity and respect. The Dining Room has served poor and homeless Tenderloin residents since 1950; through six decades of growing demand we have never turned a Dining Room guest away for lack of food. More than one-third of our guests rely on these meals as their only source of food each day; many must decide between paying their rent and purchasing medicine before budgeting for food. This year we will serve more than 2,000,000 pounds of food, 75% of that food is donated or provided free by our community partners. As a model of environmental stewardship, St. Anthony Dining Room composts or recycles 70% of all program waste. The Dining Room is more than a meal service however, it is a community. Whether in a residential hotel room or on the street, 83% of our guests live alone, and the Dining Room is a place to share stories and smiles, a place where someone would notice if they did not show up. Alongside regular volunteers, student, church and business groups volunteer daily, men in our recovery program help prepare each day’s meals relearning the routine of employment and seeing the positive impact they can have on others. An outreach team is also present to provide guidance to guests who would benefit from other programs and services available. In addition to the regular meal service and in collaboration with the San Francisco Food Bank, the Dining Room hosts two monthly food distribution programs which provide groceries to nearly 1,000 low-income San Francisco residents and seniors. Our Dining Room serves hot, nutritious meals 365 days a year. Hours: 10:00am-11:45am Open to Families with Children and Seniors (age 60+), 11:30am-1:30pm Open to Anyone