(Click HERE for photos) On Monday evening, William C. Thompson, Jr. NYC Comptroller and Mayoral Hopeful wearing a different hat at New York’s most frequented Soup Kitchen. He will had an opportunity to see the plight of hungry New Yorkers firsthand, when serve them a four course meal.

Attendance at soup kitchen is at rise in NYC and soup kitchen feeling the pinch, including the Jewish community where poverty is on the rise. About 25 percent of the 1.4 million Jews in the five boroughs of New York—roughly 348,000—live in poverty or near poverty,

Masbia, the only Kosher soup kitchen in New York funded almost entirely by private donations, is in extra need of help.

On opening night three years ago, Masbia, which Rapaport calls the “free restaurant,” served eight meals. Today they serve 160.

Masbia was founded by few individuals who believed that the rich in the community would jump to support an organization like this, and that’s exactly what happened, said Rapaport. “Donors pushed us to be open five days a week and brought the money forward to make it possible,” Rapaport said. “We want to be open 24/7 we just need the money to be able to do it.”

Rapaport thinks this model has the potential to spread like wildfire. He has been contacted by leaders in several other religious communities looking to replicate Masbia. He is currently engaged in opening two new branches in Williamsburg and Flatbush, where the need is high, and Rapaport is convinced it won’t stop there.

“It’s easier to rid the city of hunger than send someone to the moon,” says Rapaport. “Masbia hopes to prove that to the city one day.”

While other soup kitchens and food pantries in the New York depend on government funding, Masbia has come to depend on privet donations like local newlyweds who, in the days before their wedding, sponsor a night at Masbia.