The conference got underway Friday morning and, might I say, was a huge success. The whole weekend was catered by the amazing Fresh Start catering program through DC Central Kitchen. At the conference, students got to hear from many guest speakers and gained valuble tips and insights from them, as well as from fellow attendees. Topics at the conference included: fundraising, local food, nutrition, grant writing, community relationships, social media, leadership, and nonprofit professionalism. The conference came to a close on Saturday evening at a delicious local restaurant, Busboys and Poets. DCCK/CKP founder, Robert Egger, gave the closing speech and left the students and staff with a renewed sense of purpose.

The CKP staff would like to thank everyone who attended the conference as well as our awesome speakers and the generous donors and sponsors who made it all possible! Another successful conference as we enter into ‘Our New Millennium’…

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The culinary job training program at Campus Kitchen at Marquette University has changed the way Jen Filz sees poverty. As coordinator of CKMU and CKP Fellow, she has built relationships with her unemployed and underemployed students, and has come to understand their needs in a different way.

She realized that she wanted a culinary job training program at CKMU that would not only prepare them to enter the restaurant industry, but also be relevant for her students’ daily lives. “I want it to be something they’ll be able to use in the future, no matter what,” said Jen.

Now, as a CKP Fellow, Jen Filz is developing a nutrition education curriculum as part of job training. Questions like “How do you cook well by still cooking cheap?” structure the lessons. She’s also hoping to teach cost analysis skills and partner with a local grocery store to include a shopping on a budget lesson.

The nutrition education curriculum is Jen’s Community Impact Project, which each Fellow designs and implements in response to a community need. In addition to the direct service she already does, the Fellowship has allowed her to delve more deeply into the issue of nutrition in low-income communities and to actually come up with a response.

As  a Fellow, she also benefits from significant support from a community engaged in issues of hunger and poverty. Fellows join other student leaders from across the country, as well as nonprofit professionals in a virtual education series.

Working through issues and questions with peers and experienced professionals was a huge benefit for Jen: “The best part is having people who are nonprofit leaders to really engage with us, and give us real life solutions to try,” she said.

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