A vital food source for the hungry and homeless in downtown Raleigh now has the director scrambling ahead of the holiday season.

Since 1980, 5 days a week, the Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen on West Morgan street in downtown Raleigh has fed countless hungry souls. The staff and volunteers were preparing for their busiest season until disaster struck.

Their freezer failed, causing a large freezer full of perishables to spoil.

Director Tammy Gregory said, “Our surplus is 2 to 3 months in the freezer that went down and it’s completely empty. We lost everything.”

Gregory says the defrosting mechanism failed so not only did they lose a lot of food, but the walk-in freezer had to be fixed and now they have to pay the cost.

“We don’t know the exact cost yet, but we’re looking in the thousands of dollars,” said Gregory.

12 frozen turkeys and a box full of frozen pizzas now have the giant freezer to themselves. “Now we have nothing to use. So, we’re in big trouble,” said Gregory.

The number of those living on the streets in downtown Raleigh and in nearby tent cities continues to grow. Gregory says the non-profit food ministry needs community support now more than ever.

She said, “By sending donations, help us fill our freezer back up to capacity and so we’ll be able to make it through these next tough couple of months. Maybe holding a Christmas party or something; a luncheon, maybe take that money and write us a check and give everybody a lunch that doesn’t have one.”

Gregory also hopes that more people who can afford the higher-priced homes and apartments in downtown Raleigh near the kitchen will step up with donations to help continue their mission to feed the hungry.