Coming Soon: A New Era for Our Kitchen

After months of planning, problem-solving, and extraordinary teamwork, we’re thrilled to announce that early next month, we are reopening the Flagstaff Family Food Center kitchen. Newly renovated, expanded, and ready to serve even more of our neighbors in need!

We’re not quite finished, but here’s a sneak peak of how it is looking. We plan to have a ribbon cutting at 3:30 pm on Sunday, June 8th to celebrate.

Thanks to contributors to our Feeding Futures campaign, this renovation represents more than just shiny, updated equipment. It’s a renewed commitment to dignity, community, and nourishment!

A special thanks goes to Jim and Carol Dykes, whose $100,000 gift helped make this transformation possible.

In honor of Jim’s late mother – a woman remembered for a life of service and compassion – we are proud to unveil our new space as Edith’s Kitchen.

We are also grateful for the contribution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Flagstaff Arizona East & West Stakes, for their contribution to this project.

Before we reopen the doors, I want to turn it over to our Assistant Kitchen Manager, Max Faull. He can provide a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to keep the meals coming during this extensive renovation.

Operating out of multiple locations during the renovation was challenging, from having enough staff and volunteers to cover all areas to handling food each day.

Teamwork was key to our success, but a special shout out is due to the FFFC warehouse crew. We simply would not have been able to transfer ingredients to Coconino Community College’s culinary arts kitchen. Then transfer the prepared meals to our North 2nd Street location in time for dinner, without their support. Timing was tight but everyone worked to synchronize each step. And our staff and volunteers were extremely flexible so that we could have enough coverage between the two locations.

On Sundays, we were blessed with hundreds of donated meals from local restaurants. This includes Agave Mexican Restaurant, Fat Olives, Salsa Brava, and the team behind Satchmo’s. These meals were outstanding!

Unfortunately, our remodel went longer than originally planned. Sometimes we didn’t have catered meals to offer our neighbors. But that just meant we go to pull out the barbeques and have an old fashioned cookout.

We are also very fortunately that Coconino Community College was able to accommodate us when it took a few weeks longer for the renovations to be complete.

It’s been an adventure but we are eagerly anticipating returning to our home turf on North 2nd Street. This includes all the improvements that will give us a far greater ability to serve our community.

Celebrate with Us!

With 300 square feet more space, going from four ovens to six, a larger dishwasher, a second steamer cabinet, and a new top burner. We’ll be able to produce more meals faster and meet the demand of the moment. That makes all the hassle of the past few months worth it.

We hope you’ll join us on Sunday, June 8 to tour the space, honor the legacy behind Edith’s Kitchen, and celebrate what this community has built together.