No one should face a hospital stay hungry.
From a small snack to a full Shabbos, prepared and packed in Williamsburg and waiting in the Kosher room down the hall, for patients and their families. Free, with no questions asked.
- 10,000servings every week
- MostNew York City hospitals served
- 70+years of chesed
- $0ever asked of a patient
Recognize this label?
Every meal carries a label with the donor’s dedication.
Tap any label to donate.
A taste of home, where it’s needed most.
A hospital is cold and unfamiliar. A warm plate of food from home changes the whole day, for the patient and for the husband, wife or parent who hasn’t left their side.
Satmar Bikur Cholim brings in fresh food from high-quality caterers and food companies, prepares and packs it in Williamsburg, and private volunteers bring it multiple times a week to the Kosher rooms inside each hospital, where patients and their families help themselves. There are no forms and no questions. Any Jew who needs a meal gets one, free of charge.
Serving New York’s hospitals ever since, in the spirit the Rebbetzin began with.
Free, with no forms and no questions asked.
Satmar Bikur Cholim, Kosher Rooms Division.
Since 1952, Satmar Bikur Cholim, the Ladies Bikur Cholim, has brought the warmth of a home kitchen to New York’s hospitals. Today its Kosher Rooms Division, based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, stocks and sustains the Kosher rooms of most New York City hospitals, plus hospitals and mental health centers across New York, where patients and the families at their side find fresh kosher food at any hour.
Read our story- 1952
A home kitchen
Rebbetzin Alte Feiga Teitelbaum ע״ה founds Satmar Bikur Cholim, cooking at home for Jewish patients in New York’s hospitals.
- Then
Bedford Avenue
The work grows into a larger commercial kitchen on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.
- Beyond
Many communities
Bikur Cholim takes root in Boro Park, Monsey, Monroe, Flatbush and beyond, each community with its own local organization.
- Today
The Kosher Rooms Division
In Williamsburg, the work of the hospital Kosher rooms is carried by the Kosher Rooms Division, in the spirit the Rebbetzin began with.
Care you can taste.
What our Division for Kosher Rooms provides, in every hospital we serve.
Grab-and-go, hot & cold
Everything from small snacks to full meals, every day: dairy, blintzes, eggplant parmigiana and all kinds of hot and cold dishes.
Learn more↗Cakes, cookies & cut fruit
Many kinds of cakes and cookies, and a variety of fresh-cut fruit, on the shelves around the clock.
Learn more↗A full Shabbos menu
A complete Shabbos menu in the Kosher rooms, for patients and the families staying with them.
Learn more↗Yom Tov meals & necessities
Beautiful Yom Tov meals, with the necessities that each Yom Tov calls for.
Learn more↗Out-of-state families
An apartment, food, laundry and everything needed for their stay, and often clothing and tuition for the children.
Learn more↗Delivered by volunteers
Private volunteers deliver multiple times a week, so the rooms are full for every Shabbos and Yom Tov.
Learn more↗How a meal reaches the patient.
Five steps, multiple times a week. Scroll through them; the rooms never run empty between deliveries.
- Fresh in
The food arrives
Soups, chicken, kugels, blintzes and more come in from high-quality caterers and food companies.
- Warmed & plated
Plated with home-made care
Our staff and volunteers warm, prepare and plate every meal with home-made care.
- Packed
Packed with care
Every portion is packed, sealed and labeled with the name it was sponsored in honor or in memory of.
- Delivered
Out to the hospitals
Volunteers load their cars and restock the Kosher rooms multiple times a week, with the full Shabbos menu in place before Shabbos. Erev Yom Tov is the same, only bigger.
- Any hour
Waiting in the Kosher room
A parent coming out of the ER at 2:30 in the morning still finds a meal waiting. Free, with no questions asked.
Where it all happens.
Behind the green door on Franklin Avenue is our huge, bright prep space. Food from high-quality caterers and food companies arrives here, and this is where every meal is warmed, prepared, plated, packed and labeled, and where the boxes are loaded for the Kosher rooms.
See what we do
Yom Tov doesn’t stop at the hospital door.
A full Shabbos menu waits in the Kosher rooms every week. On Yom Tov, beautiful Yom Tov meals and the necessities for that Yom Tov.
Our Yom Tov program
Something sweet, every day.
Many kinds of cakes and cookies, and a variety of fresh-cut fruit, on the shelves every day.
Most New York City hospitals.
Including Mount Sinai, NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell and Columbia, Memorial Sloan Kettering, NYU Langone, Montefiore and more, plus mental health centers across New York.
- Mount Sinai
- NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell
- NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia
- Memorial Sloan Kettering
- NYU Langone
- Montefiore
and more, plus mental health centers across New York.
Feed a hospital. Feed them all.
Pick a meal, a day, a Shabbos or a whole week. Your name or dedication is printed on every package you sponsor.
Let a meal carry a name.
Every package we deliver carries a printed label. Mark a yahrzeit, a recovery or a simcha with meals for people who need them.
In loving memory
For a yahrzeit or Yizkor: add a name to a gift of any amount, in memory of a loved one. The name is printed on the labels.
Dedicate in memoryIn honor of
For a refuah shleimah, a birthday or a simcha: honor someone by feeding patients and their families.
Dedicate in honorEvery meal carries a label with the donor’s dedication.
YahrzeitMarinated Salmon
ShabbosShabbos Meal
In memoryDinner Plate
PesachSalmon & Gefilte Fish
Yom TovYom Tov Meal
In memoryDairy Goods
Yom TovBeef Plate
In memoryFish Sandwich
In memoryTurkey Sandwich
Swipe to see more labels
When my father was at Mount Sinai for three weeks, I never once had to worry about food. Even at 2 a.m. there was soup and challah waiting in the Kosher room, as if someone at home had made it for us.
Chaya R., daughter of a patient at Mount Sinai
We came from Montreal for my son’s surgery at Sloan Kettering and didn’t know a soul. The Kosher room was stocked with everything, even for Shabbos. It made a frightening week feel a little like home.
Moshe L., father of a patient, from out of state
I’ve driven deliveries for six years. Seeing a husband walk into the Kosher room at midnight and find a full Shabbos menu waiting is why I keep coming back.
Yossi K., volunteer driver
We came from Israel for my husband’s treatment and didn’t know where to start. Bikur Cholim found us a place to stay, came with us to the doctor and looked after our whole family. We never felt alone.
Rivka S., wife of a patient, from Israel
Frequently asked questions.
Short answers about the Kosher rooms, the hospitals we serve and how to give.
What is a Kosher room?
A Kosher room is a room inside a hospital, stocked with free kosher food for Jewish patients and the family members staying with them: snacks, drinks, cakes, fruit and meals, plus a full Shabbos menu and Yom Tov meals. Satmar Bikur Cholim keeps the Kosher rooms of most New York City hospitals, plus hospitals and mental health centers across New York well stocked.
Which hospitals does Satmar Bikur Cholim serve?
Most New York City hospitals, plus hospitals and mental health centers across New York, including Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai West, NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell, NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia (Milstein), Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering, NYU Langone, NYU Langone Orthopedic (Joint Diseases), Montefiore Medical Center, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, North Shore University Hospital and Staten Island University Hospital.
How can I sponsor meals?
Sponsor online on our Sponsor & Give page: $36 sponsors one meal, $50 a patient’s meals for a full day, $1,000 one hospital for a day, $4,000 or $7,000 a Shabbos, $10,000 all hospitals for one day, and $30,000 all hospitals for a full week. You can also give by Zelle, by check to Ladies Bikur Cholim D’Satmor, 183 Wilson St PMB 429, Brooklyn, NY 11211, or through donor funds such as OJC, The Donors’ Fund, Pledger and Matbia.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes. Ladies Bikur Cholim D’Satmor is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 11-6081323. Contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law, and every gift is receipted by email.
How did the Kosher Rooms Division begin?
Satmar Bikur Cholim was founded in 1952 by Rebbetzin Alte Feiga Teitelbaum in a home kitchen, and grew into a larger commercial kitchen on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. The organization was incorporated in New York in 1957. The work of Bikur Cholim continues today in many communities, including Boro Park, Monsey, Monroe and Flatbush, each with its own local organization. In Williamsburg, the work devoted to hospital Kosher rooms is carried by the Kosher Rooms Division.
Someone opens the fridge and finds home.
Every gift becomes food on the shelves of a hospital’s Kosher room.