Erica Leventhall, 17, center, squeezes past Gavin Maxfield, 21, left, and Leslie Peteya, 22, as they prepare a meal in the Food Not Bombs kitchen in Raleigh. Every Sunday, the organization prepares a free meal for the homeless to distribute in Raleigh’s Moore Square.

The Raleigh Food Not Bombs chapter was started about two years ago because Peteya and some friends wanted to organize “some kind of direct action and to get involved more with local community,” Peteya says. “We’re sort of a guerrilla soup kitchen.”

The direct action movement began in the 1980s as a response to the nuclear disarmament movement and now Food Not Bombs chapters throughout the world serve free vegetarian and vegan food to the hungry and protest war and poverty.

Peteya describes the organization as a “good place to learn teamwork and the concept of direct action as well as how to cook.”

The Raleigh chapter generally has a core group of about five or six volunteers with ages ranging from 13 to the mid-20s. The group uses donated food, but also buys food. The cooks prepare the meals in a community kitchen at Action for Community in Raleigh, also known as ACRe.

“We’re not relying on a church or an established soup kitchen to do that. We do it ourselves which is pretty inspiring for us … and I feel for the people that rely on it,’ Peteya says.

To learn more about the Food Not Bombs movement visit www.foodnotbombs.net or www.raleighaction.org.