Joy Community Kitchen
great food for good people who need it
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
In brief, we work to address low and very low food security. Our primary service population is senior citizens and their caregivers. We also serve other populations, including residents of transitional housing, unhomed people, and recent immigrants to the USA, documented or not. Our meals are delivered free of charge to our distribution partners and clients. The Atlanta metro region spreads across an area of 8,376 square miles (21,694 km2) – a land area comparable to that of Massachusetts (from Wikipedia 22 November 2022). Public transportation is not as available as it might be throughout the entire metropolitan Atlanta area, so seniors and their caregivers often face real transportation challenges to reach sources of help About 15,000 seniors in Gwinnett depend on others for their living needs, and about 8,500 live with low or very low food security. We partner with local food banks to deliver fresh-made microwaveable frozen meals to people who need them.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Meals for Seniors
In collaboration with our distribution partners, Joy Community Kitchen helps senior citizens in Gwinnett County, Georgia by creating nutritious and appetizing frozen meals, using the highest quality ingredients we can buy. Recipients need only remove the meal container from the sealed packaging and microwave it for a few minutes to enjoy genuine home cooking.
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of people in target audiences who experience low or very low food security
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Seniors, Ethnic and racial groups, People with disabilities, People with diseases and illnesses, Caregivers
Related Program
Meals for Seniors
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
2022 estimate based on: Total Population: 1,002,616 Adult Population: 687,027 Senior Population: 94,218 Old Age Dependency Ratio: 15.9% Overall Poverty Rate: 10.52% Senior Low Food Security Rate: 9.1%
Number of food donation partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Seniors, Older adults, Ethnic and racial groups, Caregivers, Religious groups
Related Program
Meals for Seniors
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Food donation partners include: Private donors Atlanta Community Food Bank Graystone Church Walmart Kroger Jackson EMC CHOPT Dulce & Sabrosa StreetWise Inova
Number of meals delivered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Older adults, Seniors, Ethnic and racial groups, Caregivers, Religious groups
Related Program
Meals for Seniors
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Joy Community Kitchen currently distributes our meals to clients vetted by local food pantries. Our current core service area is Gwinnett County, Georgia USA. We also serve other parts of metro ATL.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We want to make the lives of vulnerable senior citizens better by supplying them and their caregivers with high-quality, nutritious, appetizing, and convenient food. In 2023 we will begin frozen meal delivery to residents of senior and transitional housing. We will also continue to serve hot fresh-cooked meals at partner sites as opportunity and resources allow.
We serve everyone. We all need to eat.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We are a Georgia Department of Agriculture-licensed manufacturer of frozen foods, with our production facility at PREP Kitchens Atlanta. Our biggest production and delivery constraints are funding and labor.
To address these constraints in FY 2023 we will:
1) Continue to refine and extend our marketing efforts to
a) Tell more people about Joy Community Kitchen and what we do through online channels.
b) Recruit individual and corporate donors.
c) Build credibility and partnerships with other organizations that address food insecurity in the Atlanta metro.
2) Join community organizations like the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce to build out our network of relationships.
3) Continue optimizing our procurement, production, and delivery process to reduce our cost-per-meal and
increase production and delivery.
4) Get one or more refrigerated delivery vehicles to allow onsite safe delivery of our meals and (planned) meal
ingredients.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Joy Community Kitchen began as a church-hosted hot meal preparation service. While continuing to prepare
and serve hot meals, we operated a client-choice food pantry—in partnership with the Atlanta Community
Food Bank—for 6 years. In 2020 pandemic restrictions led us to transform into a Georgia Department of
Agriculture licensed manufacturer of frozen foods. We began delivery of microwaveable frozen meals in
January 2021.
Our growing base of service and support partners, and our wonderful volunteers, make the Joy Community
Kitchen vision and mission a reality. We want to do more, and we are in this for the long haul.
Founder and CEO Marty Donnellan is also Joy Community Kitchen’s Chief Vision Officer. In the late 1990s she
began developing her ideas for high-quality food services for underserved people, and acquiring the
knowledge and skills needed to achieve her vision. In the first decade of the 2000s she began working in
church foodservice operations and gained the practical experience that enabled her to launch Joy Community
Kitchen.
Director of Communications and Technology Mike Donnellan graduated from Georgia Tech in 1991 with an
honors degree in Information and Computer Science, and from UGA’s Terry College of Business in 2007 with
an MBA. He has over a decade of experience in professional nonprofit data management and analytics, and
over 30 years’ experience in corporate information technology. In February 2021 he joined Joy Community Kitchen full-time after almost 10 years’ participation as a donor and part-time advisor.
We can do this, because we're already doing it successfully.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Joy Community Kitchen has served our community since our founding in 2012. The IRS designated us as a
501(c)(3) public charity in 2013.
Joy Community Kitchen began as a church-hosted hot meal preparation service. While continuing to prepare
and serve hot meals, we operated a client-choice food pantry—in partnership with the Atlanta Community
Food Bank—for 6 years. In 2020 pandemic restrictions led us to transform into a Georgia Department of
Agriculture licensed manufacturer of frozen foods. We began delivery of microwaveable frozen meals in
January 2021. As of mid-July 2022, we have delivered well over 1,200 frozen meals, and served 360 hot meals
onsite in response to requests from selected service partners, all free of charge this year. We measure our
success by meals served, populations served, partner satisfaction, volunteer success, and client delight.
Without community support we cannot do what we do. In 2021 many individual and organizational partners in
service and support came forward to help.
• Microsoft, Walmart, QuikTrip, and Kroger provided monetary and/or in-kind donations.
• Graystone Church provided financial support and encouragement.
• Atlanta Community Food Bank, StreetWise Georgia, and the Lawrenceville Co-Op provided operational
and material support.
All these partners and others, such as the Jackson EMC Foundation, have joined with us to support our work in
2022. Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op joined us as a distribution partner in Spring 2022. Most recently, COO
Doug Marranci of our production facility PREP Atlanta has partnered with us to find ways to recover fresh
ingredients, that might otherwise have been wasted, for inclusion in our meals. US Foods’ Sean Palani and his
crew the Atlanta Guys Dinner Group have offered their help. We are deeply grateful to all our partners and
individual donors who believe in us and trust us to use their donated time and resources to serve our clients.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Joy Community Kitchen
Board of directorsas of 02/25/2023
Marty Donnellan
Joy Community Kitchen, Inc.
Term: 2018 - 2023
Mike Hoffer
Tina Reynolds
Christian and Missionary Alliance
Sharon Gregory
Mike Donnellan
Effective Data Works LLC
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as: