Rexburg couple launches town’s first soup kitchen

Rexburg, Idaho (KIFI) — Community members packed the Veterans of Foreign Wars building in Rexburg on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. They celebrated the town's first-ever soup kitchen with a ribbon cutting. 

Dave and Margo Merrill founded the Rexburg Soup Kitchen.

They worked extensively with the food pantries and other agencies in nearby towns for several years to open the kitchen.

They say they don't have expertise in this, but they do have willing hearts and a great volunteer community.

"One of the gaps has been a free hot meal ready to eat that day. The closest one is at Idaho Falls. We don't have it in this area, and there's just a need for people who are hungry today and who may not have the kitchen space or the time and the ability to go pick up a box from a pantry and then cook it and take it home and prepare it for their family. So just sort of a small hole in that food insecurity safety net," said Dave Merrill.

The soup kitchen needed a commercial kitchen and space for people to eat.

The VFW building fit the requirements, and the organization offered to share its space to support the nonprofit.

The founders plan to use the soup kitchen to serve more than provide food to the community.

"We are hoping to have a topic of the week and share that information with our patrons. So, there will be help with information about housing, medical care, mental health care, and school supplies. And so we will highlight one topic every week and share that information with our patrons," said Margo Merrill.

The soup kitchen will serve hot meals every Wednesday at noon starting this Wednesday, April 2, 2025.