DC Central Kitchen, Inc.

Description: DCCK is proud of its strong community partnerships with donors, volunteers, and other service organizations. Our efficient, effective programming ensures that those who contribute to our organization, be it with time, energy, or money, receive an unmatched social dividend. Every day, we put our core belief—that by working together, we can eradicate hunger and homelessness from our community—to the test on the front lines of social change.

Target demographics: Our Meal Distribution program provides quality nutrition to 4,500 children, families, adults, and seniors each day. Recipients of our meals are clients of our 100 partner social service agencies, and thus represent a wide-cross section of our community, but all represent low-income and at-risk populations.

Our Culinary Job Training students are unemployed adults working to overcome histories of substance abuse, incarceration, and homelessness. Nearly all are DC residents and approximately 80% of each class identify themselves as African-American.

Our Healthy Returns program provides healthy meals and snacks, along with nutrition education, to low-income children in Washington, DC. Last year, 1,300 children benefited from Healthy Returns’ programming.

Our First Helping street-level outreach program serves chronically homeless men and women in DC—specifically in downtown’s Golden Triangle District and Wards 7 and 8 east of the Anacostia River. Notably, we are the only outreach service working east of the river.

Direct beneficiaries per year: 10,000

Someone who had 3 hours of volunteer time could: DCCK volunteers have three meaningful ways to spend three hours. Most (some 10,000 people in 2009) join our morning meal production shift. Between 9 am and noon, these individuals will work alongside DCCK staff and culinary trainees to prepare 4,500 meals for hungry and at-risk members of the DC community.

But not everyone is a morning person. We also offer an evening shift from 5 to 8 pm when our volunteers slice and dice fresh local produce recovered from area farms. The finished products are bagged and sealed for use in future DCCK meal production.

Finally, volunteers can also join our First Helping street-level outreach team. Each morning, First Helping volunteers serve breakfast to chronically homeless individuals at 4 locations in DC, offering hot meals and warm conversation. Volunteers are supported by highly qualified outreach workers with extensive knowledge of the areas and individuals they serve. First Helping volunteers must be 18 or older.

To learn more, visit http://www.dccentralkitchen.org/volunteer. We would love to see you around the Kitchen.

Geographic areas served: Washington, DC

USA locations: District of Columbia; Prince George and Montgomery Counties, Maryland; Arlington and Fairfax Counties, Virginia; Nationwide with The Campus Kitchens Project

Board Members and Affiliation: Robert Egger, Founder and President

Marie Tibor, Chair, Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington

Jose Andres, Chair Emeritus, ThinkFoodGroup Inc

Lynne Breaux, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington

Jim Burke, Sodexho USA

Josh Carin, Geppetto Catering

Gil Crawford, MicroVest Capital Management, LLC

Ken Crerar, The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers

Xavier Deshayes, Executive Chef- Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

Paul Fields, Restaurant Development Services

Michael Freedman, Geiman, Rosenberg & Freedman

Tiffany Godbout, Hotel Association of Washington DC

Ryland Johnson, Zola Restaurant

David Kassir, Georgetown Private Cliente

LaShon Kell, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP

Jodie L. Kelley, Fannie Mae

Rev. Ray Kemp, Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University

Sam LeBlanc, Balancing Act

Ris Lacoste, Chef and Restaurateur

Chance Patterson, XM Satelitte Radio

Barton Seaver, Chef and Sustainability Consultant

Michael L. Stewart, DCCK CJT Program Graduate

Geoffrey Stricker, Clark Construction

Twanda Thomas, Martha’s Table, DCCK CJT Graduate

Rosetta Thurman, The Nonprofit Roundtable

Nancy Torray, Robert E. Torray and Anne P. Torray Family Foundation

Rob Wilder, Chair Emeritus, ThinkFoodGroup Inc.

Rhonda Willingham, MenzFit