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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A mere two days before the class of 2013 began to arrive at W&L, I went with Jenny to make CKP’s first food pickup from Walmart.   After some initial confusion about which of the many back doors we were supposed to go to, we made our way to the egg bunker where we met the women who would be facilitating the food pick-ups.  As they took us to the back of the store, I was stunned by the sheer volume of food.  The women gave us a brief tour and then we started loading up the cars.  My first impression of these two women was how excited they were that this food was not going to be wasted.  Despite the fact that they had to do some extra work to give us the food, they were more than happy to do so and just as excited as we were to be rescuing this food that otherwise would have been wasted.  Walmart has high standards on what can be sold, so there is an abundance of perfectly good food that they cannot sell because of damaged packaging.  The number of eggs that they were throwing out was unbelievable.  After saving the eggs for only two days, they were able to send us away with over 500 eggs.  From now on, CKP will be picking up from Walmart three times a week, which will supply more than enough food to fill the fridges and many hungry mouths, if my experience is any indication of a normal Walmart run.                            - Austin Branstetter

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Awards to promote social justice

The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People

The mission of Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) is to empower poor, oppressed and disadvantaged people who are seeking to change the structures that perpetuate poverty, oppression and injustice.  SDOP is taking applications year round for partnerships where a project is owned and controlled by the group of people who will benefit directly from it. Projects should address long-term correction of conditions that keep people bound by poverty and oppression

Awards Connect Gardening and Hunger Issues
National Gardening Association: Healthy Sprouts Awards
The mission of the National Gardening Association (NGA) is to promote home, school, and community gardening as a means to renew and sustain the essential connections between people, plants, and the environment. The NGA Healthy Sprouts Awards support school garden programs throughout the country that use the garden to teach youth about nutrition and the issue of hunger in the United States. Winning programs will receive $200 or $500 gift certificates from Gardener’s Supply Company, seed packets, and literature from NGA. Applicants must plan to garden in 2010 with at least 15 children between the ages of 3 and 18 years. The application deadline is October 17, 2009. Application guidelines and forms are available on the NGA website.

Awards to make a difference

Pay It Forward Foundation

The Pay It Forward Foundation was established to educate and inspire students to realize that they can change the world, and provide them with opportunities to do so. Students, teachers, and community partners are encouraged to formulate their own ideas of how they can pay it forward.  Pay It Forward mini-grants of up to $500 are designing to fund one-time only service-oriented projected identified by youth as activities they would like to perform to benefit their school, neighborhood, or greater community.  Projects must contain a “pay it forward” focus – that is, they must be based on the concept of one person doing a favor for others, who in term do favors for others, with the results growing exponentially – to be considered in the grant-making process. Applications are due for consideration September 15^th for October 1^st funding, and also February 15 for March 1^st funding.

Awards for Youth-Led Service-Learning Projects addressing Childhood Obesity

UnitedHealth HEROES grant sponsored by Youth Service America and UnitedHealth

Educators, service-learning coordinators, students in the health professions, public health professionals, and community partners are eligible to apply for the UnitedHealth HEROES service-learning project grants. Grant recipients will receive up to $1,000 in support for service-learning projects that focus on childhood obesity, engage youth ages 5-25 in the planning and implementation process, and take place during Semester of Service 2010 (MLK Day, January 18, to Global Youth Service Day, April 23-25).

States eligible for this year’s UnitedHealth HEROES program include:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

Awards to support nonprofits doing good in their community

Tom’s of Maine

Tom’s of Maine wants to support nonprofit organizations working to do good in their community.  They are taking submissions until August 30th, and five nonprofits will be selected to receive $20,000 for their projects. Applications should support community involvement projects from nonprofit organizations.

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Eating Liberally provides us with the story of a town in Australia has called for a ban on the sale of bottled water.

Our friends over at Civil Eats chronicle their adventures in roof-top gardening.

La Vida Locavore is excited about Jay Inslee’s new House bill to raise funds and awareness for community gardens.  It’s complete with a list of co-sponsors – Thank you John Conyers (D-MI14).

Beware of Starbuck’s opening up local coffee shops!

If Obama can eat at Ray’s Hell Burger, why can’t he get a “Fat Darrell” from the local Grease Carts at Rutgers?

Check out what DCCK President Robert Egger has to say about the news of a Social Investment Bank coming from our neighbors across the pond. 

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But that’s not all.  We’re also looking to make our volunteers into leaders.  And then have those leaders turn into the non-profit professionals of the future.  It seems like a meaningful conversation about where to go in the non-profit world is one that many people aren’t having.  Many of you are probably getting ready to embark on “The Job Search” or already have.  I thought I’d run through a few ways to look for non-profit jobs.

I’ve done a few non-profit job searches in my time, so I thought I’d pass along a little bit of wisdom about this site and what I see as well as some other sites and their advantages as well.

I’ll start with the Jobs for Change site.  The first thing I like about the site is that it’s easy to navigate.  You can find what you’re looking for and it’s quite helpful in narrowing the topics into sections that you may be interested in.  You can quickly browse job categories, FAQs, and ask your own new questions.  The frequently asked questions they list are actually quite relevant, and there is even a specific area for college based questions.  Many of them have been submitted by what we would assume are prospective non-profit workers and the answers seem to be fairly insightful.  If you’re thinking about the non-profit sector or already have some questions, odds are they’ve answered them so take a look.

There are a few drawbacks to the site.  The first is that if you’re looking for job listings, this isn’t your go to place.  But I’d remind anyone that no one place that best.  Remember not everyone posts jobs everywhere so keep your eyes open on some other sites.  It doesn’t seem like they have as many listings as some other sites that I’ve seen, but again, this shouldn’t be a deal breaker for using the site.  It’s usefulness is above and beyond some sites as a resource guide.

When it comes to finding a site that has a lot of contacts, at this point I’d recommend www.idealist.org.  To be honest, I’ve found both of my past two jobs on Idealist and it’s a site that I would also recommend as well.  Idealist also has a lot of resources on non-profits.  But their information is often much more specific and pertaining to fields direct non-profit fields.  This is particularly bad if you’d still color in the undecided box.  For the case of the average college student Jobs for Change is a great resource because it allows you to get answers that are more general.  Often you don’t know how or where or what you’re looking for when you get started; Idealist can be a bit overwhelming at first.  But if you are interested in a gluttony of information that are extensive and specific, Idealist may be the place to go.

The last job search site I would recommend are remembering to use your local resources.  That includes your local newspaper (in our case the Washington Post), craigslist or your college or universities listing.  These all can be great resources for you to remember when you’re looking for a job.  Keep in mind that your dream job can still be found on craigslist.

My best advice that I could give says to just keep looking.  The market is tough right now, and often seems like there is no perfect fit.  Remember to use all the resources you have at your disposal.  And we’ll see you soon, working hand in hand in our communities with us.

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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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Gleaning bears fruit for food banks, poor families: Getting fresh produce into the mouths of hungry folks is just one of many reasons that gleaning from local farms is a brilliant idea for food banks (and Campus Kitchens!). This piece also touches on the value of connecting consumers to producers and mentions the Society of St. Andrew Gleaning Network, a partner of the Campus Kitchen at Gettysburg College. We’ve already posted about DCCK’s gleaning program, and the Campus Kitchens at both Gettysburg College and the University of Vermont have already been out in the fields to feed their communities.

Could WIC Promote Healthy Corner Stores?: Over at the Poverty and Policy blog, there’s been talk about the Healthy Corner Store Program, one of the many exciting programs working to connect low-income people with nutritious, sustainable food.  (Thanks to DCCK’s amazing nutrition educator Dahlia Rockowitz for tipping us off.)

Anything Short of a Felony: We got a big ‘ol helping of love on DCCK founder and president Robert Egger’s blog this week. He writes that the point of CKP is

to demonstrate what a new generation of leaders can create if you gave them solid training and then turn over the keys to the car. 

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We didn’t only lose an election that Tuesday night though, I lost a job.  The prospect of being a legislative assistant in Annapolis.  The prospect of being employed for the next 2 months.  The prospect of even having a job in Maryland Politics until January.  It’s safe to say that it was partially a life changing moment for me.  I wanted to make change and help people, but I knew politics was not the right venue for me to do it.

I began exploring the non-profit sector and I found a job at an organization called Shepherd’s Table.  I began as volunteer manager.  My job was to do community organizing, reaching out to new volunteer groups, new in kind donors and coordinating past volunteers (something all CK’s understand).  I was soon promoted so I was overseeing development and volunteer management.  We saw substiantial expansions in our donors and our voluneers.  And while the work was fulfilling, my desire to change more lives and help others continued to drive me.

I found CKP.  A job downtown in DC.  Far away from home, but exciting.  A chance to bring change across the country.  Changing students lives, changing clients lives and changing my life all in the process.

Alas, what does this have to do with a full circle.  Today I moved into a new apartment.  I moved to be closer to my job.  But my internet connection was not connected yet.  So I walked out of my apartment, across the street to a Starbucks.  Somewhere I knew I could get a cup of coffee and internet so I could post on our blog today.

But I didn’t walk into any Starbucks.  I walked into one that had a volunteer from Shepherd’s Table walking in at the same time.  Mike, someone none of you will probalby ever meet, picks up Mon., Tues., and Thurs. from 4 different locations around the Silver Spring area including Olive Garden, KFC and Giant.  I sat down with Mike and Sherri the manager and we had a 10 min. conversation about Shepherd’s Table, what Starbucks donates, and the relationship that picking up from this Starbucks has led to donations from all the area Starbucks.  It has led to silent auction gifts, sponsorships, support from the entire district and even better friendships.

I told both Mike and Sherri how great it was to see the relationship between the business and the non-profit was going so strong.  And they both thanked me, because I connected them in the first few months I was at Shepherd’s Table.

This all reminds me that we live in such a small world.  And that the actions that each of you take every day helping those in need in your community, however small they may seem like at the time really are making a difference.  Today I blog from a business that supports their community, and I blog in the hope that each of you are making the same impact in your commuties every day.

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Then check out part 2 of the interview. While I agree with his major points, there is a disconnect between the core problems he presents–income disparity, too few living wage jobs–and solutions he proposes–streamlined federal nurition assistance programs, allowing more nutritious food as part of nutrition benefits. Modifying, even radically altering, existing government programs that fight hunger doesn’t address those core issues.

I’m keeping an eye on progress toward the solutions he mentioned–the expansion of WIC cover produce in some states, the Farmer’s Market EBT program here in DC, among others–but I’m also about imagining solutions that address the real problems.

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