Who is the Thuisgekookt Foundation for?
The Thuisgekookt Foundation arranges meals at home for everyone who, due to physical or mental complaints, is no longer able to cook for themselves every day. For example, because you are chronically ill, have a disability, feel lonely, or because of advanced age or mental illness you have little energy left to cook.
At the Thuisgekookt Foundation, we aim to make healthy hot meals and meaningful social contact accessible to everyone. Therefore, we ensure that meals are offered at cost price and are therefore available to people with smaller wallets. For people who also cannot afford the cost price, the Thuisgekookt Foundation works with a donation pot, from which meals can be paid for.
The Thuisgekookt Foundation helps carers care!
Are you a carer and could use some help? The Thuisgekookt Foundation is there for you too! We are happy to pair you, or the person you care for, with one of over 24,000 volunteer home cooks ready to help. In this way, we also help caregivers care.
Over 182.000 neighbors matched
12 years active
More than 24,000 volunteer home cooks
This is how the Thuisgekookt Foundation works
Do you need help with your hot meal?
Our social meal service is there for anyone who is no longer able to cook for themselves. The Thuisgekookt Foundation has over 24,000 volunteer home cooks ready throughout the Netherlands who will lovingly make an extra portion for you.
We will look for a regular home cook in your area
A home cook cooks voluntarily, for the cost of ingredients, once or twice a week, a fresh meal that can be collected or brought.
We will put you in touch with each other as soon as possible
So you can make arrangements between yourselves for meals.
Enjoy your meal!
Does it click? Fine! This is how we go back to what used to be very normal: neighbours taking care of each other.
Why the Thuisgekookt Foundation?
The Thuisgekook Foundation sees various (health) challenges emerging and growing in Dutch society. Loneliness, health inequalities, an ageing population and increasing pressure on the care network are creating the need to look after each other more.
Access to healthy food and meaningful social contact
As many as 450.000 residents lack access to healthy food and/or meaningful social contact. In addition, 15% of the Dutch population receives temporary and 4% permanent support from informal carers, volunteers or professionals. The government's care policy aims to enable elderly people and people with physical or mental vulnerability to continue living independently at home and participate in society for as long as possible. This requires formal and informal support.
Accessible meals
This is why the Thuisgekook Foundation provides meals that are accessible to everyone and also closely match what they need and value. Do you have special dietary requirements? Are you physically or mentally unable to join a shared meal? Or is there no physical location near you where you can join for a meal? The Thuisgekook Foundation is happy to help!
Help out
Every day, people in vulnerable situations knock on the door of the Thuisgekookt Foundation for help with hot meals and a little more social contact in the neighborhood. We try to provide all those people with help that really suits them. So help today to make the world of people in vulnerable situations bigger, healthier and happier.
A donation to the Thuisgekookt Foundation benefits anyone looking for a delicious, fresh meal and meaningful social contact. For example, your donation will be used to match someone who can no longer cook for themselves with a fellow local who will lovingly cook an extra portion, or to still provide a hot meal to someone who can no longer afford a meal for themselves. In this way, together we ensure that healthy food and meaningful social contact are accessible to everyone in the Netherlands.
Interested in the experiences of others?
Annelotte
I love that I can make someone happy with my passion for cooking.
Merlijn
On the days that I cook extra, we also eat something different!
Rosemarie
I feel honored to still have so many dear people around me at this age.
Annemarie
Thanks to my home cook, I have energy left to do the things that make me happy.
Focus municipalities in 2025
The Thuisgekookt Foundation is a national foundation and we receive many applications daily from all over the Netherlands. We work every day with all our might to provide as many people as possible with a sustainable match with a neighbor and thus a delicious, hot meal. We contact applications in the focus municipalities below within 2 working days for an intake. The number of applications in recent years has increased so much that we must initially place people who are not from our affiliated focus municipalities on a waiting list. As soon as there is space, we pick up the applications placed on the waiting list as soon as possible. So registrations of meal seekers and home cooks from all over the country are welcome, we help everyone, depending on where you live it may sometimes take a little longer.