Cathedral Kitchen

Legal name: The Cathedral Soup Kitchen Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223114500
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Camden, New Jersey, United States
Phone
(856) 964-6771
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Emergency Assistance
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,147,507
Expenses
$7,482,138
Assets
$16,772,112
Liabilities
$495,793

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Carrie Kitchen-Santiago (Executive Director)
  • Russell Heim (President)
  • Helen Le Du (Vice President)
  • ZETTRA GOODMAN WATERS (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • Carrie Kitchen-Santiago (Executive Director): $173,591 total reported compensation
  • John Gonzalez (Chief Operating Officer): $172,377 total reported compensation
  • Tajira Martin (Director of Human Capital): $141,396 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Culinary Arts Training Graduate, Behavioral Health Professional, Youth/Young Adult Mentor Beth Green, SPHR, PCC. Cathedral Kitchen’s mission is to help people out of food insecurity and champion their pursuit of stability and prosperity. In April 1976, four young Camden residents began preparing soup and sandwiches and inviting their neighbors experiencing poverty and food insecurity to sit down and eat this home-cooked meal with dignity. Throughout the 1980’s, a dedicated community of volunteers continued to build this humble operation, eventually hiring a cooking staff in the early 1990’s. By its 25th anniversary, in 2001, Cathedral Kitchen was serving 7,000 meals annually, and grew quickly to 100,000 meals annually by 2008.

What it reported doing in 2025

The cathedral soup kitchen ("csk") serves individuals and families experiencing homelessness and poverty in the city of camden, nj and surrounding areas. It serves meals monday through saturday. In 2025, over 350,000 free meals were served on and off site. Csk also provides meals to local shelters and halfway houses pursuant to contracts with other local agencies. In addition, local partner organizations provide health and other social services at the csk site, and csk staff provide case management services. Csk also operates a culinary arts training program that trains low-income adults for careers in the culinary industry. Three 15-week classes that enrolled 64 students were held in 2025. Csk also provides off-site catering services in conjunction with its culinary arts training program. All income derived from the catering and contracts is used to support other csk programs. In 2025, csk initiated the "quiet" phase of an $18 million comprehensive fundraising campaign to support the organization's long-term mission and strategic priorities. The campaign is intended to secure both operating and capital resources for the renovation and expansion of csk's facilities, as well as the enhancement and growth of its programs and services. Contributions received and commitments made through the campaign will support these strategic investments over the coming years. The initial phase of the capital campaign contributed to the increase in contributions and grants in 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 67% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.2%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32.9%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.24; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.4%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 58.2% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $174K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.