Iron Gate

What Iron Gate does

Iron Gate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit food assistance organization headquartered at 501 W. Archer Street in Downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1978 by three Trinity Episcopal Church parishioners and operating independently since 1984, it has served Tulsa's hungry and homeless continuously for over 41 years, now from a dedicated facility it moved into in August 2019. It delivers three core programs: a daily Soup Kitchen serving community meals 8:30–10:30am every day of the year including holidays; a Grocery Pantry operating Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays from 1–2:20pm as a self-select shopping experience for registered guests; and the Kid's Packs program, which distributes quart-sized bags of kid-friendly healthy snacks to every youth served. In 2024 the pantry reached 63,148 households and in 2025 it distributed 42,246 Kid's Packs.

Iron Gate operates as a volunteer-driven, community-led nonprofit with no proprietary technology platform. Approximately 30–40 staff operate three program streams and a development function, including an Executive Director (Carrie Vesely Henderson, CFRE-credentialed), Directors of Operations, Culinary Services, Finance, Development, and Resource, plus coordinators for development, volunteers, and pantry operations. It consumes over 1,000 bags per week across its supply chain. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Kelly Jezek (DXC Technology), with Vice Chair Kristin Eller and Treasurer Trent Annan.

Revenue is generated entirely through tax-deductible donations (individual, corporate, and faith-community food drives), event fundraising (notably the 20th annual Cooking for a Cause and the Founders' Dinner, the latter featuring culinary leadership from the in-house Director of Culinary Services), and in-kind support. All services are provided free of charge to guests. Strategic media partnerships (TulsaPeople) and exhibition partnerships with multiple Tulsa congregations anchor marketing and donor cultivation. The facility is co-located adjacent to the Day Center for the Homeless, concentrating the service catchment in one accessible footprint.

Name

Iron Gate

Legal name

Iron Gate

Website

https://irongatetulsa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Iron Gate is a Tulsa, Oklahoma 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates three daily food assistance programs — a year-round soup kitchen, a self-select grocery pantry, and a Kid's Packs snack program — serving the city's hungry and homeless from a Downtown Tulsa facility, funded through donations and annual fundraising events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Assistance and Hunger Relief Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Food Assistance & Nutrition Relief (Emergency Feeding) (BPAGAAAD)

Keywords

• Food assistance services
• Hunger relief programs
• Community meal service
• Food pantry distribution
• Nonprofit feeding programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Tulsa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting the charitable mission to feed Tulsa's hungry.
2. Event Fundraising: Annual events including Cooking for a Cause (20th annual, featuring 15+ local chefs) and Founders' Dinner generate sponsorship revenue and ticket sales.
3. Food Drives & Corporate Donations: Community organizations host food drives; corporate partners provide financial and in-kind support.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Iron Gate feeds the hungry and homeless of Tulsa every day through three integrated programs: a Soup Kitchen serving daily community meals 365 days a year from 8:30–10:30AM, a self-select Grocery Pantry operating Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays for registered guests, and a Kid's Packs program distributing quart-sized bags of healthy snacks to every youth served. All food assistance is provided free of charge to guests at the Downtown Tulsa facility.

Product overview

Iron Gate is a nonprofit food assistance organization offering three core programs: a daily Soup Kitchen serving community meals, a Grocery Pantry for emergency food distribution, and a Kid's Pack Pantry providing snacks to children. These programs operate from their Downtown Tulsa facility and work together to address food insecurity in the Tulsa community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Soup Kitchen

Quantifiable outcome

• 63,148 households provided groceries in 2024
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, minor and core.

• TulsaPeopleflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025TulsaPeople co-hosts the annual Cooking for a Cause event, a 20th anniversary celebration featuring 15+ local chefs at The Vista at 21 rooftop venue. This is Iron Gate's flagship annual fundraiser.
• DXC TechnologyminorOthersChair of Board Kelly Jezek is employed at DXC Technology. Board leadership engagement represents corporate involvement.
• Day Center for the Homeless (adjacent facility)coreOthersIron Gate's facility is located adjacent to the Day Center for the Homeless, serving the same geographic community of homeless services.
• Trinity Episcopal ChurchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOriginal founding location (1978-2019). The church's three parishioners (Keenan Barnard, Gene Buzzard, Rev. John C. Powers) founded the ministry. Church continues hosting Faces of Iron Gate exhibitions.
• Local Churches (Southminster Presbyterian, Harvard Avenue Christian, Christ Church Episcopal, Christ Church on Harvard, Congregation B'nai Emunah, Sanctuary Tulsa)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVarious Tulsa churches host the Faces of Iron Gate photography exhibition on rotating basis, reaching diverse congregations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• God's Pantry Food Bank: Kentucky-based food bank distributing groceries through partner pantries and direct mobile pantries. Comparable in food-distribution scale, household-reach metrics, and donor-driven nonprofit operating model.
• Food Lifeline: Seattle-area food bank distributing millions of meals annually through a partner pantry network. Comparable scale of household reach, food sourcing logistics, and community-driven volunteer model to Iron Gate.
• St. Anthony Foundation: San Francisco nonprofit operating a daily dining room, free clothing, and social services for the homeless and poor. Comparable as a long-running, multi-program, donation-funded urban feeding institution serving guests directly.
• Denver Rescue Mission: Faith-rooted nonprofit operating a daily community meal service, food pantry, and comprehensive homeless services in Denver. Closely mirrors Iron Gate's soup-kitchen-plus-pantry model with similar daily-meal and household-distribution metrics.
• Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma: Oklahoma-based food distribution nonprofit operating a network of partner pantries and direct feeding programs serving the same Tulsa-area food-insecure population as Iron Gate. Directly comparable in mission, donor base, and food distribution model.
• Loaves & Fishes: Sacramento-based nonprofit operating a daily community meal program and food distribution services for the homeless and low-income. Closely comparable in the daily-soup-kitchen-plus-distribution model and volunteer-driven operations.

Regional players

• Tulsa Area United Way: Regional fundraising and grant-making organization funding many of the same Tulsa-area nonprofits Iron Gate partners with. Comparable as a regional nonprofit ecosystem player, though operating as a funder rather than direct service provider.

Broad incumbents

• Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma: Regional social services nonprofit providing food assistance, housing support, and refugee services across Eastern Oklahoma. Comparable in serving the same Tulsa-area vulnerable population with food distribution, though with a broader service mix.
• Feeding America: National network of 200+ food banks including the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma that supplies Iron Gate-adjacent pantries. Comparable in mission and donor base, but operates at vastly larger scale and does not serve guests directly the way Iron Gate does.
• Salvation Army of Tulsa: Regional branch of the Salvation Army operating food pantries, meal programs, and broader social services in the Tulsa market. Overlaps with Iron Gate on feeding programs but offers a wider portfolio of services including housing and emergency assistance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/irongatetulsa
• Facebookfacebook.com/IronGateTulsa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iron-gate---tulsa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Iron Gate