Kelly's Kitchen

What Kelly's Kitchen does

Kelly's Kitchen is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in 2016 by Kelly Timmons in Charleston, South Carolina, and relocated to Bakersville, North Carolina in 2024 after Hurricane Helene to serve the high-need Appalachian region. The organization advances food security through intersectional, community-based programming that explicitly centers disability justice, cultural competency, and accessibility, serving people with disabilities, food-insecure communities (particularly in rural Appalachia and historically excluded populations), and a nationwide network of partner organizations.

Name

Kelly's Kitchen

Legal name

Kelly's Kitchen

Website

https://www.kellys-kitchen.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kelly's Kitchen is a 501c3 nonprofit advancing food security through intersectional programming that centers disability justice and accessibility, operating the Food Security Network (700+ partner organizations), adaptive cooking education, and community gardening programs for food-insecure and disabled communities across multiple U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Security and Disability Justice Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

Keywords

• Food security programs
• Disability justice services
• Accessible cooking education
• Community gardening initiatives
• Nonprofit food pantry

Headquarters

HQ city

Bakersville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations: Individual donations collected via Venmo, PayPal, and direct mail to support healthy education programs and food security initiatives.
2. Patreon Subscription: Monthly subscription support through Patreon with tiered rewards including the Greenhouse Bookshelf online book club ($3/month), supporting ongoing work including seed libraries, Little Free Pantries, and accessibility solutions.
3. Grants and Disaster Relief Funding: Grant funding from organizations such as Ford Foundation for disaster relief efforts (hurricane recovery) and South Carolina Community Loan Fund for the Nourishment Beyond the Plate program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kelly's Kitchen is a 501c3 nonprofit that delivers free, community-based food security and disability justice programming, including accessible cooking education with adaptive kitchen equipment (Nourishment Beyond the Plate), a nationwide Food Security Network of 700+ partner organizations, a gardening initiative (Plant One More), the Four Course Series on food and disability justice, pop-up pantry directories, and a mobile kitchen for rural food relief. Its offerings are primarily educational, social, and resource-based services for individuals with disabilities and food-insecure communities.

Product overview

Kelly's Kitchen is a 501c3 non-profit organization offering community-based food security and disability justice programs. The organization operates as a platform of interconnected programs rather than a single product, including the Food Security Network (700+ organizations), Nourishment Beyond the Plate (cooking education with adaptive equipment kits), Plant One More (seed-to-community gardening), Four Course Series (educational workshops), and the Kitchen Tools & Equipment Resource Guide. Additional offerings include Pop-Up Pantries directory, Farmer Markets listings, Employment resources, and the Mobile Kitchen Initiative. Programs are largely physical/community-based rather than software products, focused on food access, culinary education, and disability accessibility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Food Security Network (FSN): Kelly's Kitchen's largest program connecting over 700 food-oriented organizations across the country.
• Plant One More
• Nourishment Beyond the Plate

Products and services

• Food Security Network A nationwide network connecting over 700 food-oriented organizations to coordinate food security efforts across the U.S. and serve as Kelly's Kitchen's largest program.
• Nourishment Beyond the Plate A six-month accessible cooking program providing cooking kits with adaptive equipment (induction cooktop, accessible cutting boards, rocker knives, kitchen utensils), live cooking classes, and meal preparation instruction for people with disabilities.
• Plant One More A nationwide movement encouraging gardeners to grow one extra row or crop of food to donate to communities in need, connecting backyard gardeners with food-insecure populations through seed libraries and partnerships.
• Four Course Series Virtual educational series on the intersection of food justice and disability justice, presented in partnership with APRIL (Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living).
• Kitchen Tools & Equipment Resource Guide A comprehensive resource listing accessible and adaptive kitchen tools (cutting boards, knives, jar openers, measuring devices, peelers, tongs, adaptive utensils) for people with disabilities, with purchase links and pricing.
• Mobile Kitchen Initiative A mobile kitchen unit providing food relief and cooking education across rural Western North Carolina communities, launched in November 2024.
• Greenhouse Bookshelf (Patreon) Online book club on Patreon at $3/month, including monthly reading recommendations, discussion prompts, and access to chat on food justice and disability justice topics.
• Kelly's Kitchen Accountability Classes Hands-on instructional cooking classes and accountability groups for disadvantaged community members covering cooking exercises, grocery shopping techniques, meal planning, and nutrition education.

Quantifiable outcome

• 700+ organizations connected through Food Security Network
• +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

Feature1 record

Partnerships

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

• Candid (formerly GuideStar)coreOthersKelly's Kitchen earned the 2026 Silver Seal of Transparency from Candid, demonstrating commitment to sharing mission, programs, financials, and leadership data with funders and community members.
• Utopian Seed ProjectflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to encourage gardeners across the United States to Plant One More, improving food security by connecting backyard gardens to communities in need. Partnership includes Thanksgiving food distribution to Leicester, NC families.
• Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide a four-course virtual series on the intersection of food justice and disability justice, combining expertise from both organizations.
• The Color Coded ChefcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on a four-class virtual cooking series combining accessible cooking education with color-coded culinary techniques.
• Sustaining WayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent collaborator in food security and sustainable community initiatives.
• Buladean Community CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent collaborator supporting food security programming in the Appalachian region.
• AfroVegan SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent collaborator at the intersection of food justice and racial justice in food security work.
• Beaufort Disability and Special NeedsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew sustainability partnership supporting the Nourishment Beyond the Plate cooking program in Beaufort, SC.
• Neighborhood AccesscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerJules Good, Accessibility Consultant with Neighborhood Access, serves as an advisor providing expertise in accessibility core competencies and community access.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Feeding America: The largest US hunger-relief organization operating a network of 200+ food banks. While much larger and broader in scope, it operates in the same food assistance space Kelly's Kitchen serves and is the natural national benchmark for food-bank nonprofit scale.
• World Central Kitchen: Global nonprofit focused on food relief and resilience in disaster-affected communities. Comparable in delivering food security programming in hurricane recovery contexts (both Kelly's Kitchen and WCK responded to Hurricane Helene), though at a much larger global scale.

Direct peers

• Food Recovery Network: National nonprofit focused on food waste reduction and food security through campus and community chapters. Operates with a similar decentralized, grassroots-driven model and addresses food insecurity through community-based programming, though without Kelly's Kitchen's disability-justice focus.
• WhyHunger: National nonprofit advancing food justice and ending hunger through grantmaking, advocacy, and community organizing. Directly comparable in combining food security with social justice framing, though at a larger scale and without a disability-focused lens.
• FoodCorps: Nonprofit connecting kids to healthy food in schools through hands-on cooking and gardening education. Comparable to Kelly's Kitchen's Nourishment Beyond the Plate program in delivering cooking education to underserved communities, though FoodCorps focuses on children in schools.
• The Food Trust: Nonprofit working to ensure everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food through policy, marketing, and community programs. Comparable in combining food access advocacy with direct community programming and farmers market engagement.
• Rethink Food: NYC-based nonprofit that uses rescued food to create restaurant-quality meals for food-insecure communities while providing workforce development. Comparable in combining food relief with skills/employment programming for underserved populations.

Emerging players

• Farmlink Project: Student-founded nonprofit that recovers surplus produce from farms and delivers it to food-insecure communities. Comparable in mission focus on food access and resource-connection, though operating on a different scale and geographic model.
• Mighty Meals: Nonprofit providing meal services and food access support to underserved communities. Less of a direct competitor and more of an adjacent food-relief organization, but operates in the same broader food assistance space.
• Food Forward: Southern California food rescue nonprofit that recovers produce and donates to food-insecure communities. Comparable in food recovery and community food access mission, though more focused on food waste/recovery than on disability-justice programming.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kellyskitchen.chs

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Kelly's Kitchen