Hunger Free Communities in Action: Rural America

Hunger Free Communities in Action: Rural America

Communities in Need

• In 2010, 48.million Americans of all ages were food insecure.

• 11.3 million adults lived in very low food security

• 16.2 million children were food insecure; 1.3% of US children lived with very-low food security

• 14.5% or 17.2 million households were food insecure

EngagementCommunity Service in

the US• 62.8 Million adults

volunteered in 2010;• 8.1 Billion hours of service

donated;• Service added $173 billion

to the economy.

Student Service(16-24 year olds)

• 21.9% or 8.3million volunteered in 2010;.

• 844 million hours of

service

The Campus Kitchens ProjectLaunched in 2001, The Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) engages students to recycle unserved food from school dining halls and use that food to prepare and deliver meals to those in need in their communities.

Our parent organization, DC Central Kitchen (DCCK), operating in Washington DC since 1989, established this innovative model of food recycling and meal delivery, which has received widespread recognition and serves as a national model for efficient, effective hunger relief for low-income people.

Together, more than 45,000 volunteers at 31 Campus Kitchens in 20 states have donated 335,967 hours of service to recover 2,143,539 million pounds of food and deliver than 1,567,802 meals to our 250 community partners across the country.

The Basics

The Space

Meal Delivery

The Food

Meal Preparation

Leadership Development

Dining Services designates kitchen space to be shared during off hours.

Dining services, food banks, grocery stores, and farmers markets donate food to be stored at the on-campus kitchen.

On “Delivery Shifts,” students transport and serve meals to an average of 10 community partners and individuals in need, including shelters, after-school programs and low-income housing complexes.

Students lead the program in many capacities: as volunteers, members of the leadership team, and interns. On average, volunteers collectively dedicate more than 450 hours of service each month.

Student volunteers work 2-5 times per week at “Cooking Shifts” to prepare and repackage donated food into balanced meals.

Benefits

For the Students:• Leadership and internshippositions.• Accessible, on-campusservice opportunities.• Experience withnon-profit organization administration.• Network of peers at otherCampus Kitchens.• Opportunity to make localand national impact.

For the School: • Partnerships with peer campuses.• Local recognition for your school’s involvement in the community.• Service learning collaborations in variety of disciplines. • Opportunities to leverage funding for other service programs at your school.

For the Community:• Enhanced services for those in-need.• Annual financial savings of at least $5,000 per agency.• Enhanced programming with Campus Kitchens leading nutrition education & job training programs.• Student participation in local community agencies.

The Campus Kitchen multi-faceted approach benefits students, the community, and the school.

Farms and Gardens

Common Ground, a student run farm at UVM, harvests produce from an acre of land set aside for the Campus Kitchen’s use.

The Painted Turtle Farm at Gettysburg College is a 4,000 square foot organic garden yielding corn,

tomatoes and herbs for CKGC and Dining Services.

Campus Kitchens run 12 on campus and community gardens. Produce is used for CK meals, grocery bags, nutrition education lessons, donated to food banks and is sold at markets and via CSAs to support ongoing operations.

Nutrition Education • The Campus Kitchens at Baylor University, the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and Gonzaga

University use their on-campus gardens for nutrition education sites. • Baylor grows organic produce which is used in Campus Kitchen Meals and offered in a

local grocer. • Gonzaga University partners with a local elementary school for student gardeners and

nutrition education lessons. • Northwestern has taught Healthy Eating on a Budget for three years to clients at Nurture. This

crock pot program not only provides nutrition education, it also give them the equipment to cook at home.

• Umass Boston brought nutrition education to kids and parents by Partnering with Share our Strength and offering the Cooking Matters program at one site. Kids were taught how to make salsa by a local chef while parents learned about reading labels, substituting low-fat ingredients and how to reduce sodium and sugar.

Economic Empowerment• The Campus Kitchens at Saint Louis and

Marquette Universities partner with dining services, local chefs and agencies to provide culinary job training programs.

• The Campus Kitchen at Augsburg college brought a farmers market and CSA drop off site to campus, creating more selling points for local farmers.

Washington and Lee University Backpacks and Farms

CKWL develops partnerships with agencies serving low income and disadvantaged persons.  Once the partnership with the agency has been developed, CKWL serves clients referred by the agency.  •Central Elementary School (Backpack Program)•Fairfield Elementary School (Backpack Program)•Glasgow Community Center•Lexington City Office on Youth•Magnolia Center•Manor at Natural Bridge•Mountain View Elementary School (Backpack Program)•Mountainview Terrace Apartments•Natural Bridge Elementary School (Backpack Program)•Rockbridge Area Occupational Center •Waddell Elementary School (Backpack Program)•YMCA Summer Camp

Excess food from the local Walmart is delivered to local pantries for distribution. •Rockbridge Area Relief Association (RARA)•Glasgow/Natural Bridge Food Pantry

The Campus Garden was started in the summer of 2008 with assistance from Dining Services, the Biology and Facilities Management Departments and the Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee. The 1/3 acre garden is planted in vegetables and herbs, compost from the campus composting program and leaves from the campus ground are used to nourish the plants. The produce is used by the Campus Kitchen and the herbs and some vegetables are used by Washington and Lee Dining Services. Beginning in the summer of 2009, CKWL in partnership with the local YMCA's summer camp is enlisting new young volunteers (ages 9-12) and educating them on gardening practices and nutritious eating habits.

Gettysburg College The Fair Share Project

The Fair Share Project is a food voucher program that was piloted in June 2011. It enabled 25 families to purchase food from the Adams County Farm Fresh Markets. Each family received $40 in vouchers per month during the months of June-September, 2011. These vouchers were used to purchase fruit, vegetable, eggs, meat and bread.

Recipients of the food vouchers are required to:•Attend a monthly event on the first Wednesday of each month at the Gettysburg Rec Park Farmers Market. •On these days, at 5:00pm, 5:30pm or 6:00pm, recipients will receive their vouchers and participate in half hour of educational activities. Activities include: taste testing, healthy eating on a budget, market tours, food demonstrations, advice from dietitians and kid-friendly recipes.

Who is eligible? •Have an income that is between 160%-250% of the FPIG; •AND be referred to the project through Child Care Information Services (CCIS) OR be a current recipient of the Campus Kitchen at Gettysburg College.

This project aims to:•Provide families who are not eligible for food assistance programs with the increased ability to purchase healthy, fresh foods;•Increase fruit and vegetable consumption;•Support local farms and our local economy; and•Provide nutrition education and support.

Lee University – Rural Hunger ReliefThe On campus food bank is supported by donations from the local grocery stores in Cleveland and provides resources for meals and assistance in Cleveland/Bradley County.•Crossover Ministry meets every Saturday and takes between 400-700 lbs. of donated food to West Cleveland. Help connect residents to other services in Cleveland.•Backyard Ministry meets every Tuesday evening and takes between 100-250 lbs. of food. Main priority is mentoring area children and providing positive role models.•CKLee’s first shift meets on Monday nights and cooks between 70-100 dinners. CKLee’s second shift meets on Friday mornings and serves 40-60 hot breakfasts at the Cleveland Emergency Shelter.

Community Action Network (CAN)• CKLEE was awarded $4,000 to sub-grant to community organizations that

supported a MLK service event that was completed during the “Semester of Service”.

• CAN is the community cooperative, in conjunction with the mayor’s coalition, where organizations can be strengthened as they serve together in community efforts.

• The April 27th tornados changed our community’s direction, so CAN became the umbrella network for disaster relief resources.

• Key members of CAN became a part of what is now know as the Long Term Recovery Organization (LTRO) that continues to work with relief efforts in the community.

• Part of our MLK grant was in turn used to support disaster relief agencies that ultimately met the mission of collaboration in service to the community.

CAN’s Current Efforts• Revamping and updating an Online Resource Guide for community organizations

and clients.

• Working with a computer class at Lee to create a mobile application for the guide.

• Hosting training opportunities for local nonprofit organizations on topics including: grant writing, fundraising, sustainability, board development, and effective leadership

• Hosting the Foundations Database to give smaller nonprofits access to search for suitable grant opportunities

• Working to network and connect local nonprofits with one another more effectively so they can better serve those in need.

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