St. John's Bread and Life, located at 75 Lewis Avenue, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, was founded in 1982 as a work of St. John the Baptist Parish. This parish, ministered by the Daughters of Charity since the 1970's and the Vincentian Fathers for over 130 years, has always held to its core value and mission of serving those in need. Through the generosity of St. John the Baptist Parish, this ministry expanded beyond the parish boundaries. Recognizing this ever-growing need, Bread and Life grew to be a freestanding not-for-profit corporation as part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. Bread and Life has recently returned to its roots and now functions under the auspices of St John's University.

Today, Bread and Life, located in the original building of St. John's University, continues to address the issues of hunger and poverty in Brooklyn and Queens. Every day, Bread and Life serves over one thousand meals to hungry New Yorkers. We provide these services both at our Lewis Avenue facility and through our unique Mobile Soup Kitchen. For many, the meals that Bread and Life provide are the only meals they have. Our goal is to combat poverty and help people achieve self-sufficiency, in addition to educating the public and increasing awareness about meals to needy New Yorkers.