We cooked. We fed. We conquered.

The family of 20 campus kitchens that make up The Campus Kitchens Project saw a lot of highs and lows, cabbage and carrots, PB&J’s and pastas, tomatoes and turkeys in 2009. The year of an ill economy, swine flue epidemic, and a healthcare overhaul also marked a period of successes for CKP.

We think 2009 was a pretty good year for The Campus Kitchens Project – and it’s all thanks to the dedicated staff, students, volunteers, and community partners who helped make hunger relief a real and growing force in each community. Together, the campus kitchens reached the million meals milestone, hung up our chef’s hats in five new kitchens, and ushered in greener and more local food movements. It’s hard to believe we accomplished so much in 2009. But what’s harder to believe? All of it was done in addition to the usual meals cooked and delivered by students each day.


The top five moments of 2009:

1. Millions Milestones: We did it. We’re millionaires. Something about the end of the decade and exponential increase of kitchens serving meals helped us reach two “millions” milestones. In May, CKP’s pounds of food recovered spilled just over the million mark. Then, in October, something more impressive: kitchens came together in Washington, D.C. (during the CKP National Leadership Conference!) to serve the millionth meal. View footage of the event here.

2. CKP became a MLK Day of Service Grantee: Campuses are great at preparing meals day in and day out, but sometimes need an extra infusion of cash and support to kick services into high gear. Enter the Corporation for National and Community Service and their MLK Day of Service grants.

The award allowed CKP to give thousands of dollars to campus kitchens and other organizations around the country. In the first year of the MLK Day grant, CKP’s group of sub-grantees gathered over 1000 volunteers to carry on the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., bridging barriers, empowering individuals, and strengthening communities. Students at the Campus Kitchen at Jacksonville University held two community barbeques in an effort to build trust between the isolated student population and their neighbors. Looking forward to MLK Day 2010, CKP will aid organizations in gathering hundreds more volunteers to work against hunger relief and provide other basic human needs.

3. Five New Campus Kitchens Open: The Campus Kitchen’s Project has seen years of growth, but none were perhaps as robust as increasing the existing kitchen fleet by one third. CKP opened five new kitchens: University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, University of Florida, Baylor University, Johns Hopkins University and Lee University in January 2009. In less than a year, each kitchen has already carved out its own niche as a valuable asset in the community, jump-starting gleaning programs, planning for culinary job training classes, becoming sole providers for community soup kitchens, and developing a strong base of student leadership. We can’t wait to see what these kitchens have in store for next year!

4. Walmart Becomes a National Partner, Fuels Expansion: In addition to the Sodexo Foundation, the initial funder and supporter of The Campus Kitchens project, the Walmart Foundation has committed $300,000 to helping CKP open up six new kitchens in the next two years. Local Walmarts have supported many kitchens through food banks in the past, but this national grant amplifies the company’s commitment to hunger relief. The first kitchen Walmart will help open: The University of Massachusetts, Boston at the end of January 2010.

5.  High School Volunteerism Program – In 2009, CKP dipped further into the fountain of youth with the creation of a program allowing high school students to work with their local university campus kitchens to deliver meals. Meanwhile, the students could log volunteer hours often needed to graduate. Two high schools in the Washington, D.C. area, one in New Orleans, and another in Boston have either shown interest or committed to the program.

Thanks again for a wonderful year. Can’t wait to see what the next one will bring!

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