The Boynton Beach Soup Kitchen that Serves up Far More Than Soup

Chef Pete Moshonas never knows what ingredients he’ll have when the food trucks roll in. But within 24 hours, he’s plating a thousand meals, with care and creativity, nourishing bodies, and entire family systems. 

“It’s one of the best parts of my job,” said Moshonas. 

At The Soup Kitchen, food is only the beginning. Over the past 40 years, the Boynton Beach nonprofit has grown into a full-scale community support hub, offering everything from parenting support to job training, all powered by donations and a commitment to dignity.

For Moshonas, the head chef at the Soup Kitchen,  it doesn’t take much to plate something beautiful. A can of seasoned beans, golden rice, topped with chicken glazed in onions goes a long way when prepared with intention.

The Soup Kitchen (TSK) has fed the heart, body and mind of the Boynton Beach community with over 6.5 million meals in the last 40 years. Once just a stretch of land where three women fed sandwiches to the homeless in a van, TSK has grown into something far beyond a typical meal service, but an anchor for the homeless, former foster care youth, and elders of the community they serve. 

Palm Beach County is the fourth wealthiest county in Florida, a place often associated with rapid development, luxury real estate, and economic expansion. Amid this growth, thousands still rely on The Soup Kitchen for basic needs, revealing an often overlooked reality of food insecurity behind the county’s polished image.

“The most important thing is that we are their lifeline,” said CEO Marlene Meija.

In 2020, Mejia was appointed CEO following the unexpected death of executive director Enrique Zuanetto to COVID-19. 

The non-profit relies solely on donations. Its more than 100 community programs provide food, hygiene products, clothing, furniture, diapers for toddlers and the elderly.

TSK has 157 donation points all around town, where locals can donate unopened food or other goods towards their services. TSK picks up the goods at the donation sites daily and brings a truck full of donations back to headquarters. The donated items can range from iced pastries to fruits to diapers to canned goods. 

Once the haul is unloaded and separated, Chef Moshonas meal plans to ensure maximum nutrition and taste and minimal waste. And that’s when the cooking race begins. 

The ‘Meals on Wheels’ program stands out as one of the organization’s most impactful, according to Mejia and Operations Manager Regina Fay. This initiative allows volunteers to deliver hot, freshly packaged meals to homebound elders in the Boynton Beach area.

“Our volunteers go to make sure that they’re okay, see how they’re doing, ask about their families and whatever they need,” Fay said. “It’s such a great gift because a lot of them don’t see anybody all day.” 

Most of these elders suffer from chronic and terminal illnesses and are often living alone due to having little to no family. ‘Meals on Wheels’ is an outlet for these elders to receive warm food, but also a genuine human connection. 

“You might be the only smile they see all day,”  said TSK volunteer Bonnie Connor. “You form a relationship with them. It’s a beautiful thing,” 

After passing the site for years, Connor, who joined the organization during the pandemic, finally gave in to her curiosity and fell in love with the mission. She’s been a regular volunteer since, and is now a leader of the ‘Meals on Wheels’ program. She’s delivered meals in joyful times, like 100th birthdays, and tougher ones. 

“I was delivering, and one of them had fallen in her home and she couldn’t get up. I called 911 and I stayed with her all day until it was resolved,” Connor said. “Now we have an extra special bond.”

Since its inception in 2015, ‘Meals on Wheels’ volunteers have delivered over 63,000 meals, all freshly prepared by Chef Moshonas with donated food.

To Moshonas, it's more than a job. 

“I work eight days a week,” he joked. “Sundays are the best days because I still have homeless people that live in the back, so I try to get them breakfast and lunch. I get here at 7 a.m. and I leave around 6 p.m.,” Moshonas said.

While food remains at the center of The Soup Kitchen’s mission, the organization has extended into other types of social nourishment, as well, with programs that support former foster youth, infants, and families. 

According to Cross River Therapy, disposable diapers for a single baby will cost approximately $70 per month and $840 per year. According to Statista, revenue in the baby food market amounts to $79.74 billion in 2025. 

The “Taking Care of our Babies” program eases the burden on struggling parents who can’t afford basic necessities for their babies, and supports with the mental load of tracking when they might need more items because their baby has grown. The program also provides emotional support and an assortment of parenting classes. “For example,” Meija said, “if [parents] want to learn about drowning prevention, we get them to come in and teach.” 

The “Lift Up” program focuses on former foster youth who age out of the system and enter the world undersupported. 

“These are normally students who are moving into new apartments, or have been kicked out from the government. So they’re going to need soap, hygiene products for women, they’ll need socks, and shaving cream. And they get to come and shop around for free,” said Meija.

According to the National Foster Youth Institute, more than 23,000 children will age out of the U.S. foster care system every year, and 20% of them will become instantly homeless.

This program also provides them with a job at The Soup Kitchen, and a 6-week class session that supports their job-seeking process with resume prep and interview skills. Chef Moshonas also prepares hot meals. 

These programs were intended to show that serving the people in their community goes beyond their food needs, and meets their emotional, mental, and physical needs. 

By meeting people where they are, The Soup Kitchen has created a space for the Boynton Beach community where food brings them in, and caring services keep them coming back.