By Molly Monroe
Frank Kalange believes he was called to be Interfaith Food Service Director. From watching his Italian mother cook, he fell in love with cooking at the age of seven. He went on to manage 42 different restaurants and eventually used his cooking to feed his neighbors, friends and family around a long table in his backyard to raise funds for different charities.
In a low moment of his life after a divorce, he looked up at the sky and asked God, “What do you want me to do?” He heard the response, “Feed my sheep.”
Kalange’s faith drove him to start Mercy Kitchen out of St. Mark’s Catholic Church. Every Wednesday he gathered a group of volunteers to prepare, deliver and serve a warm meal to guests of Interfaith Sanctuary.
He connected with guests experiencing homelessness and looked forward to serving them on a weekly basis. Wednesday is still his favorite day of the week.
Kalange went from Interfaith’s beloved volunteer (who was even honored as the volunteer of the year at the 2024 Fred Awards Gala) to Interfaith’s Director of Food Service.
“I didn’t know that Frank would even consider the position of Food Service Director,” Jodi Peterson-Stigers said. “But when I reached out to him, he said, ‘I have been waiting for you to ask.’”
Kalange was interviewed by George Prentice on Boise State Public Radio and shared his mission and vision for the kitchen. “I think God chose me to do this,“ he said in the interview.
For a couple of months, Kalange reached out to friends, family, community members and volunteers to raise funds to stock the kitchen with utensils, supplies and ingredients.
He witnessed acts of kindness when he shared his mission to feed folks experiencing homelessness whether someone paid for his cart full of groceries or handed him cash in the Winco parking lot.
“I’ve been planting seeds for two months and they’re all growing!” Kalange said.
He started building a team of volunteers and churches of various faiths to come cook meals at the Shelter Home. His goal is to have a different group come in each day of the week to help prepare nutritious, delicious meals for the guests.
Since the new Shelter Home will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Mercy Kitchen will provide three meals a day, everyday for over 200 guests. That’s around 615 meals a day and 4,305 meals a week.
Many more meals, requires many more hands.
If you’re interested in volunteering in Mercy Kitchen, preparing meals with a group or bringing your cooking expertise to our Food Service Training Program, email mercykitchen@interfaithsanctuary.org.
If you’d like to donate toward Mercy Kitchen’s supplies, scan the QR code.
Kalange is beyond grateful for all the helping hands and generous hearts who have put time, love and cooking into Mercy Kitchen. He looks forward to loving the guests of Interfaith through good food.
