You can find all you need to know on the new tab on the main page.  Just look up…CKP Leadership Conference.  There you’ll find a link to the registration page and a bunch of other details you might be interested in.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jkough@campuskitchens.org, I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

In case you missed it the actual event registration page is here!

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The Roosevelt Scholars Act would help fund education in Mission Critical Fields.  This would include engineering, information technology, foreign languages and public health.  In turn this would mean those graduates would have to commit 3-5 years of service to a federal agency.

Would this make a difference?  Logically it seems as though it would.  Not only would you be able to get skilled workers, with great educations into federal agencies, there would be an incentive because of guaranteed jobs for students coming out of school.  Jobs in areas such as foreign language, IT and engineering all have competitive pay in the government and this program could help get better talent into those programs from elite schools.

On the other hand, the government has several programs like this already.  Many that offer good jobs, with a quick rising scale in salary in exchange for years of service clauses.  I’d like to think that we could lure more talent to our agencies by simply increasing the pay in skilled fields.  Is the issue with the number of engineering graduates?  Or is it with the fact that they opt not to go into the private sector.

While it seems like more skilled employees for the government is a good thing, are these fields specific enough?  How do we know these fields are the most important?  Who determines these fields…and will they become simply politically influenced.

I see the value of a project like this, but wonder if something that targets students of specific socio-economic status for these scholarships would not only help our governemnt agencies but also promote education for those who could not already afford it or had never considered being able to go at all.

What are your thoughts?

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Where do these people turn?  If you’ve never navigated social services, our friends at First Helping have plenty to say about how difficult it can be.  But now all of a sudden, it’s YOUR family.  Well apparently the middle class doesn’t know where to turn either.  The New York Times highlights some of the issues here.  The economy has not only made the world harder to live in, at times its become impossible.

I’m an optimist though.  Thinking about this actually seems like it will be good for the nonprofit sector in the long run.  A major issue for nonprofits is the stereotypes that get placed onto our clients and our work.  People that know and understand some of the difficulties first hand make for long term supporters that are invaluable.

As we look to improve the nonprofit sector, to make ourselves better and the organizations that we work with better, maybe this will help in the long run.  Every day people fight the issues of hunger and homelessness, hopefully when those people win their battles and land on their feet, they can lend a helping hand to others as well.

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This amazing video comes to you directly from CKGU.

I don’t want to say too much about this because it’s totally worth watching.  But feel free to check out some of the cool things that we’ve currently got going on at CKGU here.

But maybe the future of CKP is actually SNL.

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The Pew Charitable Trust has released a study that says that  growing up in neighborhoods that are low income acts as an indicator for future growth earnings.  This comes as particularly shocking news to me.  The study shows that even African Americans that have grown up in households that earn more still don’t have better earning potential.

No other factor, including parents’ education, employment or marital status, was as important as neighborhood poverty in explaining why black children were so much more likely than whites to lose income as adults.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I find this to be absolutely stunning.  The notion of the cycle of poverty has always been something that has been talked about and taken very seriously.  But this study seems to show that it doesn’t have to do with employment or education, but diversity.

The idea of putting people in a successful environment and seeing improvement doesn’t seem surprising.  We do so much for poverty and hunger, maybe diversity is one of the ingredients we’re forgetting.  And according to this study diversity isn’t just about being black or white, but it’s also about being rich or poor.  Just one more interesting ingredient we need to add to the mix to figure out how we can make the world a better place.

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Project 100.  This video asks a pretty interesting question.  What would you do with $100.  I can think of about 25 different things that I’d like to do.

The only stipulation is that they ask that you think about giving to a charitable cause before you spend the money.  They believe that giving money, regardless to who it goes to is a good thing for the community.  Giving back in some way, not just to charity is a great way to create good will and a more positive attitude on life.

At first I thought the program, Jeff included, was a little silly.  But the more I thought about it, the more right it seems.  Giving $100 to someone today might mean a whole lot to them.  For some that might mean a chance to buy groceries, take their family out to dinner, or just be able to pay the rent on time.

So check out more about Project 100 and let us know your thoughts!

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It’s no secret; I prefer to spend my time in the city. I’ve been living in DC for almost ten years with no end point in site. If I want produce, I just go to my local farmers market. However, I recognize that not everything can come my way via a busy urban street, and not all things point towards a city center. Sometimes, you need to follow the country road. To get produce really fresh, go to the source.

This summer, CKP is partnering with the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network (MAGNET) to develop a produce exchange between the mid-Atlantic Campus Kitchens and DC Central Kitchen. Campus Kitchens glean from farms close to their operations to ensure that their clients are receiving nutritious and locally sourced meals.

This past Tuesday, the Campus Kitchen at Johns Hopkins University hosted the first gleaning trip of the program. Ten students volunteering with CKJHU met Jamie Schuman, Partner Relations Manager at DC Central Kitchen, and Pastor Hall, Coordinator for MAGNET, at Miller Farms in Clinton, MD. After battling traffic to get away from the city, the students were ready to work. Within 90 minutes, we had managed to pick 225 pounds of kale and 575 pounds of collard greens. The produce was split between the Maryland Food Bank and DC Central Kitchen.

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We got an email from Ariel, who coordinates CKs in the Mid-Atlantic region, about gleaning with the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network. What’s gleaning? Quite simply, it’s a practice that makes a lot of sense in the food recovery world. In the context of food, gleaning is picking the excess from the fruits and vegetables of the field so that nothing is wasted. The man who guided us on our gleaning trip, Pastor Hall, pointed out that it’s a tradition that can be found in the Bible, in the context of familiar Old Testament figures like Ruth who are associated with holiness. It makes sense, because if all this produce that gets left behind sits and rots in the field, it’s not only a waste of food but also a waste of resources that could have fed someone who was hungry.

Naturally, we got on board right away. We organized announcements and trip arrangements and ended up with seven volunteers, one of whom was an intern and the other six of whom were pre-college students taking summer classes at Hopkins and who wanted to do something good for the community during the stay. We would have had more people, but we could only take two vans full and so we could only take the first six students to respond. It’s a great problem to have too many people who care, right?

On Tuesday afternoon, we loaded up the vans and drove about an hour and a half from Baltimore to Clinton, Maryland, a little town in Prince George’s County. It was farmland and country stores all around, the perfect kind of place to appreciate gleaning and why it’s an old idea that shouldn’t be lost in a modern context. We met up with Pastor Hall, who works with the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network, Jamie from DC Central Kitchen, and Ariel, and off we went, following their vans to a field of collard greens and kale right off a residential road. There, the pastor gave us his thoughts on gleaning and instructed us in gleaning the collards. Collard greens grow out of what looks like a mini palm tree that rises from the ground, and they fan outward. The inner part of the plant, called the crown, is a group of small, light green leaves that are tightly packed together, as if to enclose something that needs protection. The leaves get darker and bigger as you move to the outside. We were to pick only the outer leaves and let the crown stay intact. That way, the plant would not be harmed, and it would gradually regenerate itself so that the cycle could continue.

We stayed for a couple of hours, leaning over into the plants and filling mesh bags with leaves that were going into someone’s stew, or maybe a frying pan, later on. These plants are very healthy, Jamie reminded us, and we had the opportunity to pick a lot. By the end of the evening, as the Sun started to go down and we were about to head back to Baltimore, we had filled enough bags to fill the back of each van. It was incredible, and the work hadn’t even ended yet. When we got back to our own city, we took the bags to the very grateful members of Second Shiloh, a food pantry about fifteen minutes away from the Hopkins campus. As we piled the bags high onto tables in their storage space, we thought about the fact that a few spare leaves here and there on a plant were now providing meals to dozens of people. It’s a staggering thought, and should not be taken lightly.

Our gleaning trips will continue this summer, and the gleaning networks are growing all the time. Pastor Hall was telling us that he is about to get office space from Baltimore City’s government.

In this age, we have machines that can pick plants for us and all sorts of efficient means of preparing them so that we don’t ever really think about them in their raw, Sun-nurtured state, but if anyone should bring that consciousness back it’s the Campus Kitchens. The work that we do inspires people who meet us, because we work based on such a simple idea. A little excess food here and there means ending hunger for an individual, and we are the workers who provide the middle step that makes that happy ending. But there’s something truly amazing about claiming what comes directly from the Earth to do the same thing, which is why gleaning is so cool. The Earth keeps providing, but if so many people are hungry then something must be getting lost along the way. Gleaning is a great way to remember why no one needs to be hungry, and it’s just another great way to make a dent in hunger as an international issue. I couldn’t recommend it more highly as something to get involved in.

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The Work and Education Release Program at the Natural Bridge Juvenile Correctional Center gives many kids a chance to learn new skills that can help them to be successful in their futures. People in this program are given the ability to leave the campus of the facility and work among society, or to take classes in a nearby community college. Most of the people who have entered this program have left the facility with a renewed sense of accomplishment and the knowledge that they are able to do most anything they put their minds to.

I have been working at the Campus Kitchen Project of Washington and Lee University for little under a month and I have already began to learn many things I once took for granted. I have taken a step further towards the path I intend to go, and one step farther away from the path I was on.

This program gives me satisfaction in knowing that I am helping more people now then I have ever thought to. I believe that this has been one of the greatest opportunities of my present being. I am very hopeful to continue participating in this program, and continue in the learning experience that helps me to work towards a brighter future.

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This summer, CKNU will take part in the Feeding Our Future program by providing free, nutritious meals to youths who generally qualify for reduced-cost lunches during the school year. We also deliver meals to senior citizens, low-income families, and individuals with varying disabilities in the Evanston area. There are four Northwestern students leading these Campus Kitchen activities: Abby (class of 2009), Molly (a rising junior), Amy (class of 2009), and myself (Leezia, a rising sophomore). I’d like to tell you a little more about us!

The four of us are very compatible with each other, and we all bring varying strengths to the table in terms of teaming up and executing our responsibilities efficiently. The first few days of our internship we got acquainted with the proper procedures and protocols with regards to delivering the meals, creating grocery bags, shopping and reimbursements, managing volunteers, and maintaining a sanitary workplace.

We have been taking turns managing the meal, delivery, and food rescue shifts. We have anywhere between 3-7 volunteers per shift, most of whom are either high school football players or professional, working adults with spare time and an affinity for service. During the week, we make an average of 1,600 sandwiches to distribute to centers such as the YMCA, Howard Area Community Center (a social service agency for low-income individuals), Connections for the Homeless and the Salvation Army. It’s difficult to be at the kitchen by 8:15 a.m. a few times per week and fill meal containers with donated goods and whip out a few hundred PB&J sandwiches in a matter of a few hours, but the result is entirely worth it. One of my fellow interns described the situation best when she said, “It’s different when you know who you’re delivering the meals to. When you put a face to the food, you work extra hard in making sure the food is sanitary and actually tasty to eat.” After going on my first delivery shift a few weeks ago, I can most sincerely agree. As I become better acquainted with our clients, it becomes easier to wake up in the morning because I know that someone in Evanston is depending on me to provide them with what is often their only meal for the entire day. At that point, sleeping in becomes less important and helping the community becomes the priority.

We’ve been interning for about three weeks now, but the four of us still have a lot to accomplish. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be hosting food drives at grocery stores in the area, and then we’ll each get an opportunity go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to pick up subsidized snacks for our clients. Until then, we’ll continue to make PB&Js…

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