St. John's Bread & Life's groundbreaking Mobile Soup Kitchen (MSK) was a finalist in the Victor J. Papanek Social Design Award given by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Victor J. Papanek Foundation at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the Austrian Cultural Forum. The contest was the inaugural Design for the Real World Redux competition supporting environmentally sustainable and socially responsible design.

The roving food delivery vehicle, used daily by St. John's Bread & Life, is a customized Recreational Vehicle set up to prepare and deliver food. Its original design mas modified by Kristina E. Drury of TYTHEdesign, a Brooklyn-based firm that uses design-based approaches to support the goals and needs of agencies in the social sector, from non-profits to social ventures.

"After watching the Mobile Soup Kitchen in action, TYTHEdesign worked with a team of volunteers to redesign the interior space of the Mobile soup kitchen," said Anthony Butler, executive director of St. John's Bread & Life.  "TYTHEdesign created new tools to reduce the inefficiencies at the service window.  The volunteers and staff became more effective, less frustrated and were able to dramatically reduce the time needed to serve each client."

The winning entries will be featured in exhibitions held at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (November 10, 2011-January 31, 2012) and the Museum of Arts and Design and/or the Austrian Cultural Forum New York (March 6-June 17, 2012), depending on the number of finalists. There is a possibility that the exhibition will travel to other venues worldwide.

The MSK serves daily hot meals and provides outreach services to a number of New York City's most impoverished communities located in East New York, Brownsville, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Coney Island, and Williamsburg. The Mobile Soup Kitchen is a compact mobile extension of St. John's Bread and Life. The vehicle has both kitchen and office space, enabling it to reach out to families and individuals who do not have easy access to food and social services. The Mobile Soup Kitchen provides hot nutritious meals served in a friendly atmosphere. It also offers an array of social services that can provide information and referrals in response to such needs as housing, counseling, health, education, detoxification/rehabilitation programs, public assistance, legal issues and other programs.

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