Hundreds of locals are getting a free hot meal 364 days a year thanks to The People’s Kitchen of San Luis Obispo.
The People’s Kitchen is a 100 percent volunteer-run nonprofit that has been serving one hot meal at noon to the hungry each day since 1984.
With the help of volunteers and more than three dozen local organizations, People’s Kitchen of SLO board member Chrissy Stenson said, they serve more than 300 locals each afternoon and had served more than 32,000 people in 2024 alone.
“We want to serve anybody who’s hungry,” Stenson said. “That’s our mission, is to provide a hot meal to whoever wants it and offer it with justice and love.”
Each day one of 40 organizations oversees the meal, Stenson explained. This involves cooking enough food for about 300—including a hot meal, a side dish of fruit and vegetables, and drinks like water, milk, or juice—alongside delivering and serving the food at its location at 40 Prado Road.
As a board member, it’s Stenson’s job to start the setup each Monday and assist with whatever the serving organization needs that lunchtime.
“It starts at 12 p.m., and either we serve until we run out of food or run out of customers,” Stenson said, “and if we have enough, then we call people up for seconds.”
People’s Kitchen has been serving at 40 Prado Road since 2018 after a few failed locations—on the Old Mission’s covered porch, at the Grange Hall, and when the city needed the old Prado Day House for mandated water treatment improvements.
The Prado Day House then moved across the street, and with help from the community, it became an operating night shelter and day house, Stenson said.
“The community came together and raised the money for this beautiful new building—it was a whole collaborative effort and local electrician businesses volunteered their time. It was pretty extensive, and it’s a beautiful spot,” she said.
Anyone is welcome to come for a meal, Stenson explained, and every day clients include individuals who are locally unhoused, disabled and unable to work, and working poor.
All that’s required for a meal is a photo ID, since the shelter houses children.
“And you know, once the staff has vetted them and knows them, they just walk in. But when they’re first new, it’s a process of finding out about them and making sure that the kids in the building are safe.”
Stenson noted that if a client shows up in need of a meal but doesn’t have any identification or doesn’t want to enter the building, People’s Kitchen provides to-go meals.
“Before we even serve lunch, a staff member takes those out of the building so that at least some members of the community that can’t come in or don’t want to come in will still get fed,” she said.
Stenson said she has gotten to know the clients on a personal level and that’s the most rewarding part of the gig.
“That’s something I love about this service is getting to know the different people that come in, because you see them on a daily or weekly basis, and you get to know them as people,” she said. “It’s really nice getting to know them as people.”
Stenson said volunteers at People’s Kitchen can be involved with a participating group like a local church, or can just come on their own. And the time commitment can be an hour each day, month, or year.
“We have 40-plus groups because not every group comes once a month. You know, there’s one family that just comes once a year, and they bring their kids,” she said.
When starting with People’s Kitchen of SLO seven years ago, Stenson said she had observed lunchtime to figure out where she was interested in helping, which led her to become a board member.
“As my kids grew up, I was missing that. So this allowed me to kind of take care of people in that way. It’s just a very nice, important service,” she said.
Volunteer roles can include a variety of things like cooking, delivering, serving the meals, or all the above.
“Whether they cook the meal and come to serve it or just show up to serve it, they’re giving their time,” she said.
And while cooking a meal for 300 can feel intimidating, Stenson ensured prospective volunteers that People’s Kitchen is there to help. And if those interested can’t donate their time, Stenson said the organization does not receive federal funding and is always accepting donations to help with paper supplies, cups, and meals.
For the hot lunches, People’s Kitchen’s website features easy recipes for large quantities that anyone can make, like meatloaf, chicken, and mac and cheese—anything soft, as many clients have dental problems, the website said.
Stenson said her favorite meal is a tamale pie, which has 5 pounds of taco meat in the bottom of a pan, layered with assorted beans like kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, a layer of cheese, and cornbread on top.
“Any dishes that have a real protein, you know, those really are loved,” she said. “So, chicken thighs, chicken legs, pieces of meat, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Mashed potatoes are a huge one.” Δ
Reach Staff Writer Libbey Hanson at lhanson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Volunteers 2025.