For Debbie, Director of Community-Based Programs at Lifting Up Westchester, that belief is at the heart of the work happening each day at the organization’s Community Kitchen in White Plains.
The kitchen is open five days a week, serving breakfast and lunch to neighbors from across the area. Some are living in shelters or are unsheltered. Others have housing but are still struggling with hunger as food prices and everyday costs continue to rise. On average, about 100 people come through the doors each day.
For Debbie, what matters most is not only that neighbors can get a meal, but that they can come into a space that feels warm, safe, and welcoming.
“We’re sort of a community center,” she shared. “And community is definitely central.”
Debbie first came to Lifting Up Westchester in 2020 as a volunteer before stepping into her current leadership role. By then, she already knew Feeding Westchester well and had seen the value of the longstanding partnership.
“This community kitchen has benefited a lot from both their donations and what we can purchase at good prices through Feeding Westchester,” she said.
That partnership helps make the kitchen possible, but Debbie is quick to point out that what happens there goes beyond food. Neighbors come for meals, but they also come for conversation, routine, support, and a sense of belonging.
She sees that in the people who return again and again.
“Some people come once a week, some people come every day, and some people come once a month,” Debbie said. “But the fact that people come back means there’s something of value here.”
That value is built intentionally. Debbie describes the kitchen’s goals simply: to create a warm, welcoming, and safe environment, to serve nutritious food, and to offer supportive services.
In practice, that means neighbors can find more than a meal. They may also connect with health programs, nutrition support, and help navigating other systems and services.
“It’s really about being a place where people can go, feel safe, not have to be out on the street, and get support and socialization,” Debbie said.
The kitchen is run by a small team, including staff, volunteers, and others who help connect neighbors to additional resources. Together, they create a space where people are not just passing through. They are known, welcomed, and treated with care.
Debbie has seen the need grow over the past several years. Two years ago, the kitchen served an average of 77 people a day. Last year, that number rose to 104. This year, it is expected to remain around 100.
For her, those numbers are a reminder of both the challenge and the responsibility.
“The fact that we’re growing doesn’t make me happy, because I wish the need wasn’t there,” she said. “But we’re here to support the need.”
She also wants people to understand that hunger in White Plains is real, and that support is available. Rising food prices and changes affecting SNAP have made it harder for many neighbors to make ends meet. In response, the kitchen continues to offer meals five days a week while also helping connect people to other places where they can find food and support.
Even in the face of growing need, Debbie sees reasons for hope in the feeling inside the kitchen itself.
“What gives me hope is the feeling you get when you come here,” she said, “that people really feel comfortable and happy being here.”
That sense of comfort matters. It reflects the kind of community the kitchen works to build each day — one rooted in nourishment, dignity, and care.
Because at Lifting Up Westchester’s Community Kitchen, food is essential. But so is what comes with it: a place to sit, to connect, to feel safe, and to know that support is there.
And for many neighbors, that can mean just as much as the meal itself.
