Five days a week, Stanford gets on three different buses from Independence, Mo. to make his way to the KC Power and Light District where he sets up a cardboard sign and asks pedestrians for spare change. But before he can set up his sign, he stops by Thelma’s Kitchen, Kansas City’s first pay-what-you-can lunch cafe located at 31st and Troost. For Stanford, the restaurant is the only place he can receive a healthy meal — one that satisfies his dietary restrictions due to gout and one he can afford.
Father Justin Mathews, a minister in the Saint Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church, and his wife, Jodi Mathews, opened Thelma’s Kitchen with hopes of transforming Troost, as Mathews describes, from a “dividing line into a gathering place”.
The restaurant is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and is located at 3101 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO., an area that is historically known as a racial buffer in Kansas City but has developed into an economic dividing line.
The suggested price for a large plate is $10 and $7 for a small. But If a customer cannot afford to pay that, the minimum cost is $2 or 30 minutes wiping down tables, clearing plates or serving food.
Before transitioning into the pay-what-you-can system, the Mathews used to offer a free Friday night meal in the same building as Thelma’s, open to anyone.
“We missed an opportunity, doing everything for free, because we weren’t able to ask for help and have people share their own talents,” Mathews said. “On Thelma’s opening day I was explaining the new system to a customer and she said ‘You mean I can volunteer!’ and was so excited to help out to get lunch.”
Father Justin and Jodi Mathews began developing Thelma’s Kitchen in memory of Thelma Atschul, a mother figure throughout the community on Troost whom they met through her involvement in the Saint Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church.
Often having over 20 people living in her small apartment in the De LaSalle Apartment complex, Thelma offered the little money she had to support people living in poverty near Troost. She and her husband, Father Alexii Atschul, began their mission to provide food to the hungry by distributing bags of groceries to people along Troost.
After the Atschul couple’s program expanded, they opened Grace’s Kitchen, hoping to be able to serve more people. Their menu boasted “home cookin’” such as Thelma’s famous fried chicken and corn cakes.
After Thelma passed away in 2012, the Mathews family continued her legacy by naming the cafe after her and based it on their shared mission of merging east and west Troost into one community.
“[Thelma’s Kitchen] helps further our mission to break down barriers — racial barriers, economic barriers — so that we’re getting people from all over to share resources, a meal, build a relationship, as a point of connection,” Mathews said.
Father Justin Mathews salvaged black walnut wood from a tree in his backyard and crafted it into two long community tables to allow customers to meet new people with varying backgrounds, or even just feel more comfortable around strangers.
“I’ve been down here before and seen people in suits sitting next to one of our regular volunteers who wears wrapped t-shirts on top of her head,” Mathews said. “Even if they’re not having a conversation, we’re bringing people from all different backgrounds together. It’s a starting point moving towards our mission.”
Aside from trying to unify east and west Troost, another mission of Thelma’s is helping people become more self-sufficient. Gabriel Rop, the Director of Programs and Operations at Thelma’s Kitchen, believes asking people who cannot pay for lunch to volunteer and earn their food advances this mission.
“Some tell you no one else would give them an opportunity to do something for themselves,” Rop said. “I’ve seen people feel empowered to stay sober because being here and meeting with people who are always positive gives them the hope and opportunity to stay sober.”
Although Thelma’s Kitchen has some employees, such as Mathews, Rop and chef Pamela Infranca, the cafe relies on a 90% volunteer staff.
Aside from those who volunteer in exchange for lunch, 16 different volunteers come in each day and work 90-minute shifts serving food or washing dishes.
The volunteers and kitchen provide more than just a meal for customers. For Stanford, Thelma’s Kitchen has been a way for him to meet and pray with others.
“I’ve had a lot of death in my family, a few weeks ago I lost my only brother I had left, and I am the only survivor out of nine brothers and five sisters,” Stanford said. “So I come here a lot and pray with this man I met at Thelma’s about my family and we are able to connect because he has also suffered through family deaths.”
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