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DC Central Kitchen
From their website: “DC Central Kitchen began its first phase of operations on January 20, 1989, redistributing the excess food from the Presidential inauguration. The Kitchen is founded on the premise that when fighting poverty, one must fight to win by using every resource available. Be it food, money, or people, we at the Kitchen hate to see wasted potential. Since its inception, DC Central Kitchen has used the kitchen as a central location to recover unused food, prepare and deliver meals to partner social service agencies, train and employ homeless men and women for the food service industry, and intellectually engage volunteers.
DC Central Kitchen is not a “soup kitchen.” Our cohesive approach to solving the interconnected problems of poverty, hunger, and homelessness has led us to become a recognized national leader in our field. As a community kitchen, we recycle over one ton of surplus food each day that would otherwise go to waste and turn it into 4,500 meals for the hungry in the greater Washington, DC region. Among the people preparing these meals are the students of our Culinary Job Training program. Once homeless and hungry individuals themselves, these aspiring men and women are equipped with professional and life skills. DC Central Kitchen uses the existing ingredients of our society to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities.”
Check out their diverse list of programs areas, including First Helping, Food Recycling, Meal Distribution, Culinary Job Training for unemployed or homeless adults, Fresh Start Catering, and the Campus Kitchen Initiative.
What do Volunteers Do?
As it turns out, any number of things. DC Central Kitchen offers a fantastic and very usable volunteer page with a number of service opportunities both on-site and off-site.
Opportunities range from cooking large meals in the kitchen to gleaning produce on local farms. These opportunities take place at different times of the day, and have different age and group-size requirements. Contact information is available under each opportunity along with dress code and directions on public transportation. Large groups are welcome, but must coordinate in advance.
