Well-known San Jose soup kitchen looking for new home

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A well-known South Bay non-profit that routinely feeds tens of thousands of hungry and unhoused residents each year is looking for a new home itself.

"Trying to move a non-profit is not easy," said Bill Lee, executive director of Martha's Kitchen.

This Herculean task lies at his feet. He said Martha's Kitchen, located in the Alma neighborhood of San Jose, once served 500,000 meals to the hungry each year. It now serves 2,500,000 a year, highlighted by Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. 

The number of volunteers has also swelled, from 30 a week to roughly 300.

"We have grown to a point where we don't fit the facility we're in anymore," he said. 

Lee is looking to spend $10 million or more on a warehouse space up to double the current 10,000 square feet he's renting from Sacred Heart of Jesus church. 

The target area is in south Central San Jose, north of Curtner Avenue, east of San Jose State, and west to Highway 87.

South Bay realtors have said it's challenging given the lack of inventory and financing requirements.

"There's very few of them out there and this is a very specialized need that they're looking for. And so, you've got to find the right opportunities that fit that need," said Gustavo Gonzalez, of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.

Those needs include space for overside kitchen equipment, and extra venting and electrical wires and outlets.

Lee said Martha's Kitchen must remain accessible to those in need.

"Because we serve the poor, we need to remain in central San Jose where the poor can walk to our doors. And we're accessible to volunteers from the greater part of the valley," he said.

The imperative to move has created a Catch-22: The kitchen needs money to buy a building, but donors aren't likely to fork over the cash until a purchase agreement is signed, which requires money first.

Experts said during the season of charitable giving, small and corporate donors can create a win-win, by giving money to Martha's so it can make a purchase, and the charitable donation creates a deduction for themselves.

"It's deductible from your income, so you pay less taxes right up front when you file your return," said Dr. Jim Mohs, an accounting and taxation professor at the University of New Haven. "People of means, and even people not of means, started looking for farm deductions for this current tax year."

Officials with Martha's Kitchen said they'd like to have a new site selected and the financing in place by early next year.