the more we knew we were headed in the right direction.”
I have a feeling not very many interns get to sit in a small room just a couple feet away from their company’s founder and president, as well as the company’s CEO, but that is exactly what I did on my 3rd day on the job. Campus Kitchens is an extension from DC Central Kitchen, an organization whose motto is “combating hunger, creating opportunity”. This is exactly what they do for the DC community and non-profit sector across America.
As part of my orientation, two other interns and I had the opportunity to hear from DC Central Kitchen’s main men. Their central mission is to experiment with what they can do with what they already have. Most of their initiatives came from looking at their current systems and asking how it can be done better – and then doing it better. The quote above was referring to the constant push back they get for most of their seemingly crazy ideas. Yet consistently they haven’t stopped when push back happens and consistently they’ve seen better and better programs be created and impact so many people.
Another one of the great aspects of the organization, is that everything they do is replicable. They aren’t in the business of hoarding, but want to pass on what works well for them so that others can take it and adapt it to their community. Many kitchens across the nation have adapted what’s working for central kitchen to more efficiently help their own communities. Another part of my orientation was spending a morning at Central Kitchen, volunteering alongside groups from across the US to produce hundreds of meals. My three hours of cutting cabbage and tomatoes were incredible! The efficiency of the kitchen is spectacular. They are creating mass amount of food through volunteers who have little kitchen experience. It is a fun atmosphere where everyone is chopping or stirring, all a part of a bigger picture. It was such a smooth and fun experience.
Campus Kitchen follows DC Central Kitchen’s main premise, as they take what they have (left over food from cafeterias) and turn it into something more useful (meals for local shelters and places of need). The potential for Campus Kitchens are so powerful because they are backed and supported by an organization that is used to trying new and risky ideas in order to take what they have and multiply it to create something even better. It puts the potential into college student’s hands – a generation known for big risks and bigger dreams. There is so much freedom in each Campus Kitchen to go out on limbs and try new things in order to come up with better ideas and hopefully a solution to the global poverty and hunger issue.
I have learned so much about this company, non-profits, dreaming big, taking risks, the power of dreams and action, the metro system and metro surfing in just three short days. I can’t even imagine what the next seven weeks have in store as I dive deeper into this company and find out how it impacts the students involved!
-Kelcy