FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 10, 2023
LINCOLN, NE – Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach’s Executive Director Susanne Blue will prepare a special Italian meal for the guests and staff of Matt Talbot for lunch on August 10, 2023, with assistance from Matt Talbot’s kitchen staff as well as volunteers. The theme of the meal is “Love is on the Menu” and will include Antipasto, Garden Salad, Garlic Bread, Chicken Parmesan, Eggplant Parmesan, Roasted Garden Vegetables with Pesto, Deconstructed Spumoni (Cherry, Dutch Chocolate, and Pistachio Ice Cream), and Italian Soda.
“I'm excited to share my heritage and love of cooking with the guests and staff one last time before I leave,” said Blue. “Food is love and what better way to share my love for this wonderful organization than through a meal.”
The meal will be served from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm. The dining room will be decorated like an Italian Bistro with checkered cloths and red carnations on the tables. Some food items were generously donated by Sysco and Ivanna Cone. Pastor Kirstie Engel from First United Methodist Church will provide a prayer before the meal.
After twenty-five years as Matt Talbot’s Executive Director, Susanne Blue will step away from leading the nonprofit on August 23, 2023. During her tenure as Executive Director, the organization grew from a volunteer-led soup kitchen to a professionally staffed community kitchen and outreach center offering housing, case management, outreach, substance use, and nutrition programming for families and individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach’s Board of Directors named Alynn Sampson as Matt Talbot’s new Executive Director. Sampson’s first day at Matt Talbot will be August 21, 2023.
Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach is a hunger relief and outreach center for the homeless and near-homeless with four main areas of focus: relieving hunger, defeating homelessness, addressing addiction, and providing outreach. Everyone is welcome to walk through our open doors and receive a hot nutritious meal two times a day, every day of the year. While on-site, guests can access a variety of outreach and homeless prevention services such as case management, assistance with acquiring vital identification documents, housing, substance use services and support, message and mail services, shower and laundry services, and assistance with basic and emergency needs. Matt Talbot has been serving the Lincoln community for over 30 years and is a safe place where the disadvantaged can find respite, peace, and hope. Learn more at mtko.org.
