Mother’s Cupboard Community Kitchen

~story and photos by Paige Langenderfer

Kyle Marchuk and her daughter Rayana cooking at Mother’s Cupboard.

A small group of people saw a need in the Brown County community and took action, the impact of which will never fully be measured.

“A few good friends of mine and I were having lunch one day and we were talking about the fact that there were some food insecurities in the rural parts of the county,” Diana Biddle said. “Someone brought up that we should start a soup kitchen. It sounded like a good idea, but none of us knew anything about starting a soup kitchen.”

Before fully committing to the idea, the group visited soup kitchens in surrounding communities to learn more.

“The first thing we decided was that we would never serve any food that we would not serve our own mothers,” Diana said.

While doing their research, the group noticed that participants were hesitant to share personal information.

“These people were on a downward spiral that they could not recover from. At the grocery store, and even the pharmacy, they would put back items they didn’t have the money for,” she said. “There were programs that could help them, but many places required qualification. That is how we came up with our first mission, ‘No questions, no forms, just food.’”

The friend group created a one-year plan. They needed a location, kitchen equipment, volunteers, and a lot of food. The work seemed almost impossible.

Ralph Carlberg, Kyle’s husband, stocking the pantry.

“A soup kitchen is a big undertaking. It doesn’t just happen overnight,” Diana said. “We had to find a place to rent—and kitchen equipment is expensive.”

Over the next few months, pieces started falling into place in dramatic ways. Diana’s mother, Nina Jo McDonald, called them “Divine Appointments.”

“It was crazy. The woman who owned the building we ended up renting said she had just asked God what he wanted her to do with the building,” Diana said. “Then, we got a phone call out of the blue from a camp director who said they were remodeling their kitchen and said we could have all their old equipment if we wanted it. A pastor of a local church dropped off several totes full of kitchen utensils. These things we thought were going to take months to accomplish, we were able to check off in just a few weeks.”

Mother’s Cupboard Kitchen opened its original Bean Blossom location on October 1, 1999, less than six months after the group’s fateful lunch.

The founding group of friends and some volunteers ran everything until a new group stepped up in 2005.

In 2016, Mother’s Cupboard moved to its current location at 646 Memorial Drive, in Nashville by the fairgrounds.

“I got to take a tour of the new building before it opened to the public,” Diana said. “I went in and just cried. It was everything we had dreamed of.”

Today’s mission, “sharing the recipe for fighting hunger,” is different from the original, but the goal of helping close the gap on food insecurity remains the same.

“There are still a lot of food insecurities in this county,” said Kitchen Director Kyle Marchuk. “Nobody should go without food,” she said.

Mother’s Cupboard serves free hot meals to community members, no questions asked, from 4 to 6 p.m. six days a week. The kitchen is closed Sundays.

The kitchen also offers dry food staples, fresh dairy products, fruits and vegetables and other items clients can take home to stock their refrigerators and pantries.

“The reason I even started volunteering was because I saw a sign in the window that said they needed help cooking meals,” Kyle said. “I was there picking up meals for my family because we were in a rough patch, and I knew I needed to help.

“My kids basically grew up in the kitchen,” Kyle said. “While I was cooking, they would be stocking shelves or helping with other tasks.”

“I was probably 12 when I started coming with mom,” said Kyle’s daughter Rayana. “I love it here. I have always loved being in the kitchen. It is something I love doing with my mom.”

So far, in 2023, Mother’s Cupboard serves about 120 to 150 meals six nights a week. All meals are sent home in to-go boxes.

Kyle said. “For as small of a town as we are, we are really blessed. We have a great community backing us.”

Food donations come from restaurants, schools, churches, grocery stores and food banks. In March, the school system held a food drive and donated more than 10,000 pounds of food to the kitchen.

In the Mother’s Cupboard conference room, a striking painting hangs on the back wall. Standing in the center of the painting, welcoming clients to the kitchen, is Chef Sherry Houze. Chef Sherry was the heartbeat of the kitchen for nearly a decade, until her passing in 2022.

“I learned so much from Chef Sherry. She taught me everything,” Kyle said. “She was amazing. She put together this entire program that makes all of this work. And she pushed for a bigger facility. She even designed the kitchen.”

Kyle said volunteers are always needed to cook and serve hot meals as well as stock and distribute goods in the pantry. Cooks are needed from 1 to 4 p.m. and servers from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

“Volunteers do not need to have experience. We try to make it as easy as possible. We put out all of the ingredients and the recipe and someone is always there to help if volunteers are nervous,” Kyle said.

To volunteer, or for more information, call 812-988-8038 or visit <sanrichardson.wixsite.com/ motherscupboard> You can also find Mother’s Cupboard Community Kitchen on Facebook.