AMOR Healing Kitchen marks 100,000 meals delivered, launches $100K challenge to support the next 100,000
from Staff Reports
AMOR Healing Kitchen, a West Ashley-based nonprofit known for delivering plant-based meals to Lowcountry residents facing serious health challenges, reached a major milestone this month: its 100,000th meal delivered to a neighbor in need. The achievement marks seven years of providing nourishment, compassion, and community connection — and now AMOR is setting its sights on the next chapter.
To fund the next 100,000 meals, the organization has launched the $100K Challenge, a year-end fundraising effort designed to raise $100,000 by December 31. The campaign invites individuals, families, and businesses to “feed it forward” through one-time gifts or monthly contributions. Every dollar, AMOR says, helps sustain and expand its work providing delicious, plant-based, medically supportive meals to people battling illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
“This milestone is a celebration of every life we’ve touched and thousands of moments of care and connection,” said Maria Kelly, AMOR’s founder and executive director. “Every meal we deliver is a message of hope, and every dollar raised through the $100K Challenge helps us continue that ripple of healing throughout the Lowcountry.”
Founded in 2018, AMOR Healing Kitchen operates with a mission rooted as much in community-building as in nutrition. Roughly 80 percent of clients receive meals at no cost, ensuring that the organization’s support reaches some of the region’s most medically vulnerable residents. What makes AMOR unique is how those meals come together: they’re prepared from scratch by the nonprofit’s network of teenage volunteers — its “teen chefs.” These teens learn culinary skills, teamwork, time management, and leadership while working side-by-side with adult mentors in AMOR’s kitchen.
The meals, made with whole-food, plant-based ingredients sourced locally whenever possible, are delivered by AMOR’s volunteer “delivery angels.” On the day the organization reached its 100,000-meal milestone, volunteer Sue Plaza delivered the celebratory meal to Lowcountry resident Courtney Smith, marking a proud and emotional moment for the AMOR team.
As part of the $100K Challenge, the nonprofit is also laying the groundwork for Charleston’s first medically tailored meal program, an initiative that would provide evidence-based nutrition designed specifically for people living with chronic illnesses. Funds raised through the campaign will support this expansion of AMOR’s services as demand continues to grow.
“With every meal, we’re nourishing health and hope,” Kelly said. “The 100,000th meal isn’t the finish line — it’s proof of what’s possible when a community comes together around compassion, good food, and love.”
To learn more about AMOR Healing Kitchen or contribute to the $100K Challenge, visit givebutter.com/100kChallenge. More information about the nonprofit’s mission and programs can be found at amorhealingkitchen.org.
