Campus Kitchen at Northwestern University

Goodbye Styrofoam, Hello EcoClamshells!

CKNU is finally ditching the styrofoam.  Thanks to a generous donation of 300 reusable meal containers (EcoClamshells) from G.E.T. Enterprises, CKNU is now able to accomplish its mission of providing nourishing meals to those in need in the greenest way possible.

In the past, CKNU used close to 200 styrofoam containers per week.  All of those containers ended up in a landfill.  With the new Eco-Clamshells, CKNU is able to reduce it’s own ecological footprint, while still providing high-quality meals to those that need it most.

Using EcoClamshells will save CKNU close to $1,000 per year and prevent nearly 10,000 styrofoam containers per year from finding their way into a landfill.

Thanks again G.E.T. Enterprises!

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Kerrygold/Irish Dairy Board Donates $10,000 to CKNU!

Kathleen Quinn presents CKNU Coordinator Danny Burke with a $10,000 check on behalf of the Irish Dairy Board

CKNU has received a $10,000 donation from the Irish Dairy Board, located in Evanston.  This amount of money will help CKNU ensure that those most in need continue to receive nourishing meals.  Additionally, the Irish Dairy Board is planning a group service project with CKNU so that they can see firsthand the impact we have on the Evanston Community.

From the entire CKNU family to the Irish Dairy Board, we send an enormous THANK YOU!

The press release for the check presentation is below:

“This holiday season just got a little brighter for the Campus Kitchen at Northwestern University and the community they serve thanks to a gift from the Irish Dairy Board Inc, an Irish farmers co-operative with US operations that oversee the import and distribution of Kerrygold Irish Cheese & Butter.  Today, representatives from the Evanston-based Kerrygold offices presented the Campus Kitchen at Northwestern with a check for $10,000.  This gift will support the operations at the Kitchen, where 33,230 hours of service donated by student volunteers ensure that 725 meals a week are delivered to 15 client agencies in the Evanston community.

“This is a particularly challenging time of year for many families & individuals experiencing financial difficulty” notes Neil Cox, President of IDB Inc, “ and it’s important to us to give back to our local community when possible.  Campus Kitchen at Northwestern is a remarkable operation and one we’re proud to support”.

This student-run volunteer organization utilizes on-campus kitchen space and recovers unused food from campus cafeterias as well as community donations to provide healthy meals to those in need in their local community, while promoting healthy eating, increased child nutrition, decreased food waste and developing the next generation of community leaders.  To date, the Northwestern Kitchen has used 313,500 pounds of recovered food that would have otherwise gone to waste to create and serve 323,500 meals.

About The Campus Kitchens Project

The Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) is a national organization that provides healthy meals to those in need by harnessing the spirit of student volunteerism within local communities.  Now in its tenth year, CKP operates on 31 university and high school campuses. Thanks to the support of the Walmart Foundation, Sodexo, General Mills and the Corporation for National and Community Service, CKP continues to grow.  More information on CKP is available at www.campuskitchens.org.

About The Irish Dairy Board/Kerrygold USA

The Irish Dairy Board is the marketing and selling cooperative created by Ireland’s small dairy farmer co-ops and co-op creameries to export butter and cheeses all over the world.  “Kerrygold” is the international brand of the Irish Dairy Board.  Kerrygold butter and cheeses are widely sold in the United States in supermarkets and specialty food stores.  For a store finder, visit www.kerrygoldusa.com/where-to-buy/. For more information about Kerrygold butters and cheeses, visit www.kerrygoldusa.com.

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CKNU Volunteer Lloyd Corrigan Wins Leah Prudhomme Volunteer of the Year Award

CKNU’s very own Lloyd Corrigan won the Leah Prudhomme Volunteer of the Year Award at CKP’s annual conference in St. Louis.

The Leah Prudhomme Award is named in honor of the first recipient of the Student Volunteer of the Year Award. Leah Prudhomme was a volunteer of the Campus Kitchen at Dillard University. As a first generation college student, Leah came to the Campus Kitchen a timid and unlikely leader. She left having developed and implemented a full nutrition education curriculum for kids in New Orleans. Leah challenged herself to achieve the confidence she didn’t know she had and CKP recognizes this inspired development in all volunteers.

So who is Lloyd Corrigan?

Lloyd faithfully does the Thursday delivery route to YMCA, YWCA, and the CKNU family on the South route.  He pulls up to the loading dock of Allison Hall at 2:30 P.M. sharp every single Thursday.  Unlike other delivery shift volunteers who pull into the loading dock, park their cars, and meet a the Leadership Team shift leader in the kitchen, you have to keep an eye out for Llyod’s black van coming down the loading dock ramp,  You see, Lloyd can’t really walk.  He can’t breath by himself either.   But he sure as hell can do the Thursday delivery route.

Lloyd has his oxygen machine set up between the driver’s and passengers seat, breathing tubes and all.  Often times during the route, if you’re the volunteer in the passengers seat, you’ll hear a loud beeping and see a red flashing light on Lloyd’s oxygen machine.  If you’re a first time volunteer, you’ll turn to Lloyd and say, “Is everything ok?”  Lloyd will calmly turn to you and say, “Yes, I’m perfectly fine.  That just means I have 15 minutes of oxygen left.  So I guess we will have to stop home and get a refill before we head to the YMCA.”  No. Big. Deal.  Once you’ve driven with Lloyd for awhile, the loud beeps and red flashing light don’t freak you out as much.  Lloyd has it under control.

During Leadership Team Shift sign-ups at the beginning of each quarter, the Thursday delivery shift slot is the first to go.  Everyone wants to drive with Lloyd. The first thing Llyod asks a new volunteer is a simple, and very logical question- “Are you a screamer?”  After trying to process what exactly he means during some awkward silence, Lloyd will explain that he’s not afraid to cut people off, because as he puts it “I’ve been on the road way longer than them anyways.”  Additionally, the delivery route direction binders we put together for volunteers do not apply to Lloyd.  Lloyd has been living in Evanston his whole life, and knows every possible shortcut and alley.

And be sure that you know how to pump gas if you sign-up to drive with Lloyd.  Since he can’t get out of the car, and if his tank is running low during a shift, he’ll hand you his credit card, tell you his zip, and you get out and pump the gas for him.  It’s the least we can do for him.

This man is in his 80’s, can’t walk, can’t breath by himself, and is 15 minutes away from running out of oxygen, yet his main concern is getting meals to those that need it most.  Merriam-Webster should just save their typist from early onset carpal tunnel syndrome from entering the various definitions of “commitment, dedication, service, and leader” and just slap a big ole’ picture of The Lloyd Corrigan on the page.

Thank you Lloyd, for all that the you do for CKNU.

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Saran Wrap and Slavic Literature: Just Your Typical Summer Internship at CKNU

A big thanks to CKNU summer intern Natalie Friedman for sharing her experience this summer:

Interning at Campus Kitchens this summer was an eye-opening experience in many ways. For one, it was completely different from the data-entering, coffee-fetching internships I had in the past. Working with Campus Kitchens showed me how different non-profit is from other industries and how much it has to offer.

I realized for the first time how much hard work and organization goes into running a successful non-profit. From coordinating meal pick-ups with a chaotic dining hall staff to struggling with saran wrap that won’t stick to anything but your fingers, operations didn’t always go completely smoothly, but were all the more interesting for it. Despite the operational hazards, I discovered how much I liked working outside an office and being able to see firsthand the effects of my efforts.

The internship also opened my eyes to a whole other side of Evanston. I’ve always been impressed with its elegant neighborhoods and always thought of it as a wealthy community. What I failed to notice till I started doing deliveries was how many people in need live right across from the Northwestern dorms. It hit home for me how close people in need are, and how easy it is for people to make a difference in the lives of others.

One of my favorite parts of interning with Campus Kitchens, however, was the conversations with people that I never would have had otherwise. Delivering meals was how I got to know Mrs. Wagner, who always greeted me cheerily and never failed to tell me how cool I look that day. Food pickups at Sargent gave me an excuse to practice my Spanish with an employee at Sargent, who always takes the time to ask me about my day and caution me to cuidate. I got to discuss my Slavic literature class with one of our Russian clients, who had some surprising insights (“Ehhh, Dostoyevsky, he crazy”).

Whether I end up going into the world of non-profit or find myself in a corporate cubicle, I’ll always carry with me the lessons learned from interning with Campus Kitchens.

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Freshly Feeding Our Future

879 pounds of fresh produce is heavy.  When the delivery elevator in Elder Hall doesn’t work the majority of the summer, it’s even heavier.  But the lower back pain you wake up with in the morning eventually subsides when you think about the positive difference that the oranges, apples, strawberries, plums, pears, corn, potatoes, and cabbage make in the lives of food insecure children and families in Evanston.

This summer CKNU has made a concerted effort to include more fresh produce in the lunches we prepare and in the grocery bags we deliver to agencies such as Asian Youth Services, Howard Area Community Center, and Salvation Army Evanston.  Apples and oranges go great with PB&J, while strawberries, ears of corn, and cabbage supplement non-perishable items in grocery bags.

Produce is a lot more expensive than processed snack food.  That’s why many working poor families are forced to reach for bags of potato chips rather than head towards the produce aisle.  Often this decision is not a matter of taste, it’s a matter of simple economics.  If you are on a fixed income, you must use your dollar to buy the most calories as possible to feed your family.  In our food system, one dollar will go a heck of a lot further purchasing processed food than fresh produce, calorically speaking.

Since CKNU doesn’t exactly have the coffers of a Goldman Sachs, purchasing fresh produce can be difficult.  However, as a member agency of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, CKNU is able to pick-up fresh produce that is 100% subsidized.  That produce goes a long way in improving the health and well-being of the people that we serve here at CKNU.

Next summer, CKNU hopes to expand it’s distribution of fresh produce by working with local school gardens and farmers’ markets in the Evanston area to make freshly Feeding Our Future a priority.

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Peas and Carrots

CKNU definitely get its fair share of fresh peas and carrots from the wonderful people at Sodexo, but this post isn’t about food, it’s about something that food is as good as anything in this world at building- human relationships.  It’s the story of how CKNU and Sodexo came to be like peas and carrots.

Anytime CKNU needs help, is lost, confused, or in a bind, Sodexo is always there.  Whether it’s Deb from Elder Hall teaching CKNU how to use the industrial dishwasher to save time and water, Chris securing CKNU refrigeration when storms knocked the power out, or Steve sharing grant opportunities and always checking-in, Sodexo is always willing to make sure that CKNU has everything it needs to run a successful program.

What happens when you need to pick up 97 loaves of bread stacked up in bread trays about 10 feet high every Monday but you only have a 2002 Toyota Camry?  First off, that bread doesn’t wander here on it’s own, somebody has to tell it to come.  Thanks to John Ferraro, for placing the bread order every week on behalf of CKNU.  As he is in charge of purchasing for the entire Northwestern dining operation, 97 more loaves of bread on his plate is small potatoes.

After the order has been placed, the folks at Sargent Hall receive the bread shipment at 6am while CKNU is fast asleep, separate CKNU bread from their own, load it up in a truck, and deliver it right to our doorstep at Elder.  Thank you to truck driver extraordinaire Jimmy, manager Andy, and Chef Mark, for helping CKNU provide wheat bread PB&Js to over 22,000 Evanston kids this summer!  Also, a big thanks to Cheryl, Marie, and Ashley for going out of their way to separately invoice CKNU for the bread orders!

What do you do when you sometimes forget whether to turn your oven at home to bake or broil to cook a frozen pizza (always turn it to “bake” by the way), but suddenly find yourself leading meal shifts in an industrial sized kitchen?  You pick up the phone and call executive chef John Krickl and he comes to the kitchen to give a demonstration on calibrating thermometers, temping food, and food handling techniques.  Chef John also has a knack of showing up with 400 freshly sliced and individually wrapped bags of fruit just when you need them the most- like when you run out of snacks during a meal shift.

What if saran wrap is your mortal enemy, but you now find yourself working with a 2000 foot roll that you can barely lift by yourself?  No worries, Deb is there to show you the tricks of the trade, including how to properly saran wrap pans that are to be frozen so that CKNU has food when the dining halls close at the end of the summer.

Have you ever ordered 1,440 individually sized yogurts and couldn’t find a place to put them?  Thanks to Grace, Marsha, and Manny and the rest of the staff at Allison for making sure CKNU’s yogurt shipments find their way into the cooler in a timely fashion!

How do you provide 2,000 meals a week when the regular dining halls you rescue food from are closed for the summer?  Foster-Walker dining hall, not a regular food rescue stop for CKNU, steps up and goes out of their way to provide you with the food you need.

Sodexo has been there for CKNU this summer, and no doubt will be there as the seasons turn, turn, turn.  And let’s make one thing clear: helping CKNU is not in any of the aforementioned Sodexo employees’ job description.  All these wonderful people go out of their way to help CKNU on a daily basis.

It’s a business working with a non-profit.  It’s a non-profit working with students and volunteers.  It’s students and volunteers working with community organizations.  It’s community organizations working with those who need food.  It’s everyone working with food working together.  It’s teaching.  It’s reaching.  It’s feeding.  It’s leading. It’s community and it’s beautiful.

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It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

CKNU interns Aaron and Brittany with CKNU volunteer Graham are hard at work making PB&Js

No, that isn’t a baby that CKNU intern Brittany is holding.  She’s handling that loaf of bread with care because it isn’t just your run-of-the-mill bread- it’s from Alpha Baking, a Chicago tradition since 1935.   You’ve heard of Chicago style hot dogs, but this summer CKNU is revolutionizing the Chicago food landscape as we know it with the introduction of the Chicago style PB&J- made with whole wheat bread from Alpha Baking.

So who gets to take a bite out of this healthy and delicious bread?  As part of Sodexo’s Feeding our Future program, CKNU prepares these PB&Js and ensures that they find their way into the bellies of Evanston kids that otherwise would not have had lunch because school is not in session.  We pair the Chicago style PB&Js with  yogurt, apples, oranges and pretzels to make a complete, healthy, summer lunch. CKNU will provide over 22,000 meals to children throughout the Evanston community this summer.  We work with various organizations to make this happen, including: Salvation Army Evanston, Family Focus, Fleetwood-Jourdain Center, and Y.O.U..

A big thanks to Sodexo, Alpha Baking, CKNU interns Aaron, Brittany, and Natalie, and CKNU volunteers for making Feeding Our Future a success so far.  Feeding kids that otherwise would not have had a lunch and supporting local companies at the same time- that’s what we do at the Campus Kitchens Project!

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Evanston families in more need than we thought

Our Feeding Our Future program is coming to a close as the season winds down and a new school year begins. For the four Northwestern interns, this transition has brought attention to the plight of families who struggle in secrecy instead of in public, such as the panhandlers that we generally see around Evanston.

Earlier this month, the CKNU coordinator received an e-mail from an agency manager explaining that a staff worker had “noticed people picking through the trash looking for half eaten sandwiches.” As a response, CKNU will provide grocery bags for 10 families in-need. The non-perishables we distribute in the bags will include canned goods (soup, vegetables), oatmeal, pasta, rice, and baking mixes.

In recent weeks, we’ve held food drives to help stock our pantry with healthier options for snacks. Instead of asking for cookies and crackers, we asked local residents to donate jell-o, baby carrots, juice, and lunch meat.   If you’d like to contribute please let us know!

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Summer at CKNU

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…

Come and join us in the kitchen! Check out our schedule on our “Volunteer With Us” tab. We hope to see you soon!

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Hard Time, But Big Hearts!

With stories of poverty and economic downturns all over the media, it is easy to wonder, who does poverty affect?  According to Feed America, 36.2 million people in the U.S. were food insecure in 2007.  But since then, things have changed.  The Heartland Alliance reported that 1,110,002 people in Cook County visited a food pantry during the fourth quarter of 2008.  This is a 32.6% increase from the fourth quarter of 2007.

But there is a bright side! Kim Kilbride of The South Bend Tribune reports that though people are less able to donate money or food to non-profit organizations these days, they are donating their time.  Those who have been laid-off are spending their time volunteering while job-hunting.

CKNU is no exception to this increase in volunteering!  In April alone CKNU welcomed 39 new volunteers, who, together with our exisiting volunteers, completed 302 volunteer hours. All this hard work produced 3,126 meals! We thank all of our dedicated volunteers at CKNU for your help in providing relief to those in need of support in our area.

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