One meal can change everything. Help us serve it.
Donations will support the purpose above, or the area of greatest need if funds exceed what is required for that purpose. Mercy Chefs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Set the table for one more family in need—give today.
The weight of food insecurity becomes heavier during the holidays. Families who have lost everything after a storm, parents struggling to put food on the table for their kids, and individuals in remote regions unsure where their next meal will come from all face this holiday season with uncertainty. In these moments, a hot meal becomes more than nourishment; it becomes comfort, relief, and a reminder that someone sees and cares.
Showing up when it matters most.
Across disaster zones and underserved communities around the globe, Mercy Chefs has spent nearly 20 years setting the table in the heart of the need. What began with a simple call to just go feed people has grown into a mission that has served more than 33 million meals, each one offering dignity, compassion, and hope.
To set the table is to show up when people are hurting. For us, it means offering warmth, love, and care through a chef-prepared meal. As we enter this holiday season, Mercy Chefs is ready to set the table again for one more family, one more neighborhood, and one more community in need.
Sharing stories from around the table.
Beyond our own backyard, the need stretches across the globe. This year, Creative Director Craig Wishart traveled with our Global team from Ukraine to Northern Uganda and deep into the Hindu Kush Mountains of Northwestern Pakistan. As he reflects on these experiences, he shares, “Setting the table for these people is lifting them up and saying, ‘You’re not alone in this.’”
Each table set and each meal shared, whether amid conflict, poverty, or isolation, became a moment of dignity and connection.
Holding onto holiday traditions.
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, our Nashville Community Kitchen partnered with Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools to provide 800 Holiday Family Grocery Boxes to students and families facing food insecurity. Each box included everything needed for a full Thanksgiving meal, along with baking ingredients for festive desserts.
These boxes brought the warmth of a home-cooked meal and a chance to hold onto cherished holiday traditions at a time when budgets are stretched thin. As Mercy Chefs continues holiday distributions nationwide, will you help more families experience dignity around their tables this season?
A moment of joy and comfort.
Fifteen months after Hurricane Helene, our Western North Carolina Beacon of Hope Kitchen brought warmth and comfort to a community still rebuilding. At a local elementary school in Black Mountain, we set the table for teachers and staff with hot meals and grocery gift cards. Students were welcomed to a joyful Christmas celebration, each receiving brand-new toys and backpacks filled with nutritious, easy-to-make meals and treats—small gifts that brought big smiles.
Thank you for helping us continue to set the table and bring care and holiday cheer to communities healing from disaster.
Where those who serve find strength.
Volunteer Manager Molly MacDonald has walked alongside countless volunteers who share the same heartbreak as the people they serve. She recalls a group of local coaches in Texas who, carrying the weight of the July 4th floods, still showed up daily to deliver meals to the hardest-hit neighborhoods. She knew they needed to feel seen and cared for, too.
For Molly, setting the table is more than getting a meal out the door; it’s creating a space of comfort and support for those serving their neighbors as they, too, navigate profound loss. Your generosity strengthens not only disaster victims but also the volunteers who keep showing up.
When we are greater together.
Mercy Chefs has been serving communities across Western North Carolina since the day after Hurricane Helene struck. Our team recently returned to Mountain Heritage High School to provide students, teachers, and staff with their first shared meal since the storm. Tables were beautifully set, and the entire school gathered for a delicious lunch. Every student then walked through a line of gifts prepared just for them—shave and skincare sets, warm socks, and stuffed animals.
The principal shared how deeply the community felt seen, cared for, and connected in that moment. Thanks to your support, we are greater together, continuing to set the table for families as they recover.
Meeting neighbors where they are.
On December 13, the Portsmouth Community Kitchen became a welcoming, sensory-friendly space for students from Complete the Puzzle, a local nonprofit supporting neurodiverse children and youth. Students and parents enjoyed hands-on holiday activities, such as gingerbread house building, and tried new foods, creating moments of joy, learning, and belonging.
This season, Mercy Chefs is meeting our neighbors where they are, serving them in the ways that matter most. We are grateful to partner with Complete the Puzzle to bring holiday cheer and memorable experiences to these incredible kids.
No one is forgotten at the table.
Our Portsmouth Community Kitchen partnered with the John Stewart Foundation at Richard Bowling Elementary School to serve hundreds of meals during a community toy drive. From parents to toddlers and high schoolers, no one was forgotten. Everyone received coats, toys, and a hot plate of baked ziti, fresh salad, garlic bread, and a baked cookie, with many returning for seconds and thirds.
For some, the holidays are magical, but for families unsure where their next meal will come from, the season can feel overwhelming. Sandy, a coordinator and mother, reflects on the challenges many parents face and how events like this provide a bridge of care and understanding. Join our Community Kitchens in setting the table for neighbors with hope and dignity.
Where the table feels out of reach.
Our Global team traveled through Central America to reach remote villages where hunger and systemic poverty are a daily reality. In places where food can feel out of reach, our mobile field kitchens made it possible to set the table and serve chef-prepared meals with dignity and care.
For families living with food insecurity, a hot meal can change the course of a day. In these communities where hunger is constant and options few, a shared meal brought relief and renewed hope, reminding families who are often overlooked that they are not alone, especially during the holidays. Thank you for sending us to places where the need is the greatest.
Serving meals we would serve Him.
“If Jesus happened to show up on our site and sat down, was this the meal you would serve Him?” That question guides and reminds our Chief Culinary Officer, Adam, to serve every meal with excellence and dignity, offering the same hospitality we would give Christ Himself.
In our Community Kitchens, setting the table means caring for children and youth who would otherwise go without. From after-school meals for students heading home hungry to teaching single moms how to turn a five-dollar budget into nourishing meals for their families, our kitchens are fueling young lives with hope and strength. This work is made possible through friends like you who help ensure every child is welcomed at the table.
The joy of setting the table.
With the help of our incredible supporters and partners, Mercy Chefs has been able to set the table in places we never imagined. From serving hot meals to families affected by Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean to distributing groceries to military families in California, Texas, Virginia, and beyond, it has been our joy to serve where the need is greatest.
Our commitment doesn’t stop here. We invite you to join us in continuing to set the table for communities worldwide. Your gift before year’s end can make a lasting impact and may also be eligible for tax benefits.
Your gift makes it possible.
Your generosity equips our chefs, volunteers, mobile kitchens, and global partners to reach the hardest-hit and hardest-to-reach places. Together, we can set the table for those who are hungry and searching for hope this holiday season.
Donations will support the purpose above, or the area of greatest need if funds exceed what is required for that purpose. Mercy Chefs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Setting the table, near and far.
Every offering in our 2025 Mercy Chefs Gift Catalog sets a table in a place where resources are scarce and hope is fragile. From chef-prepared meals to disaster victims through our Beacon of Hope Kitchens to Christmas boxes filled with treats for children in war-torn regions, your support brings nourishment and care to those in need.
