About Us
The Campus Kitchen at JHU was created in 2009 upon the premise that waste is wrong: be it food, money, or the potential for people to live productive lives. We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to using surplus food to provide balanced, nutritious meals for hungry men, women, and children in the local Baltimore area.
We receive donations of foods that would otherwise go to waste and incorporate it into healthy meals, which we cook in our kitchen and distribute amongst local organizations that work to relieve hunger and strengthen our community.
Beyond that, we focus on using food as a tool to empower the community — by physically strengthening bodies, but also by strengthening minds and talents through nutrition and culinary arts education programs.
Our Mission:
- To physically strengthen the community by using available food resources to meet its hunger and nutritional needs
- To empower minds by providing leadership and community-based learning opportunities to students; and educational benefits to adults, seniors, children, and families in need
- To solidify the community by fostering a new generation of community-minded adults through resourceful and mutually beneficial partnerships among students, social service agencies, businesses and schools
CKJHU kicked off in March of 2009, after just 6 months of preparation. The founders of the organization saw the potential good that a food recovery program could do in a city like Baltimore, and struggled to get the Campus Kitchen on its feet as soon as possible.
Now, after a year since its startup, CKJHU is not only in full operation, but has three regular weekly cooking shifts running and a full team of Student Leaders. (Meet the Leadership Team Here)
CKJHU works very closely with the university’s Dining Services office, as well as JHU’s current food service provider: Aramark. They have been incredibly generous in their support to the Campus Kitchen agenda, and have made contributions of all sorts — from food to cookware to their own time.
Additionally, CKJHU (unconventionally) has its main kitchen off-campus at the local University Baptist Church. Pastor Bill Carrell of UBC has been an amazing supporter of CKJHU and has opened its full-scale church kitchen to two cooking shifts every week, as well as contributed a storage pantry for dry foods.
(University Baptist Church: where we cook most of our meals!)
If you’d like to volunteer for the Campus Kitchen at JHU, please email us at ckjhu.volunteer@gmail.com to join our volunteer mailing list.
If you would like to make a food donation, or learn more about getting involved with our organization, you can email us at ckjhu@campuskitchens.org.
