Free Groceries, Hot Meals, Health Screenings Available in Alton

ALTON - Community members can receive free groceries, a hot meal and more this Friday in Alton.

From 2–4 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2026, Soulcial Kitchen will host their monthly Block Party for Good in the Soulcial Square next to The Salvation Army. People can stop by to pick up free groceries from the St. Louis Area Foodbank and a meal from Big Meechie’s Food Truck while supplies last, no questions asked or identification required. The OSF OnCall van will also be onsite to provide free health screenings.

“We’re always looking for ways to use this monthly Block Party as a way to get capacity and remove the barriers for our neighbors who deserve good things, no matter what,” said John Michel. “We just want to love them. We want to serve them. And we think this is what it looks like for a community to roll up their sleeves and get out there and serve our neighbors in need.”

Michel is the founder of Soulcial Kitchen, the organization behind the Block Party for Good. The group partners with Food Is Love to offer the Block Party every fourth Friday of the month in Alton and Swansea. They plan to expand to Granite City in the coming months.

“Our idea is to create consistency,” Michel said. “We do it on the fourth Friday of every month at all our locations simultaneously. We want to get where people are used to the consistency of, I know on that date, I can get food, and I can get access to services.”

In previous months, the Block Party for Good has offered free haircuts and baby formula. Soulcial Kitchen partners with Theodora Farms in Godfrey to give away fresh produce as well.

They try to bring in different services and resources every month. Michel noted that they’re always looking to expand, and organizations who want to partner can contact him.

“Ultimately, our objective in doing this is to help remove some of the barriers for individuals who may be struggling or just need a little extra help,” he explained. “It’s a lot easier to create a space and a time and a place where they can come consistently, and then we can serve them in multiple ways.”

Soulcial Kitchen also sponsors the Currency of Caring, a free meal program where customers can buy a token from participating restaurants and food trucks and then give that token to a neighbor in need, who can exchange it for a hot meal. In the past five years, the organization has given away almost 400,000 meals to community members across the Greater St. Louis area through that program.

The organization also works to “develop entrepreneurs,” helping local entrepreneurs start their own food trucks or brick-and-mortar restaurants that then participate in the Currency of Caring program. Michel believes that all of these initiatives help communities grow stronger. The Block Party for Good is one way to see this in action.

“We link these things together so that we can build a more resilient community. That's what we want,” he added. “We believe the solution to most of the challenges communities have already exist in the community. We’ve just got to do the work as a team, roll up our sleeves, get the right collaboration, and unite people around the idea of serving neighbors in need, which is never hard, because people are good and people want to do good. I think the block party concept is just a manifestation of that.”

For more information about the March 27 Block Party for Good in Alton, click here. To learn more about Soulcial Kitchen and their programs, or to receive Block Party for Good updates, visit their official website or their official Facebook page.

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