Saturday Shifts

One important part of running a Campus Kitchen is getting groups outside the school to help participate in the project. After all, the Campus Kitchen is intended to serve the community. At Gonzaga, one of the best ways to accomplish this is to have Saturday shifts with youths as volunteers.

This past Saturday, we had a group from Holy Trinity in Georgetown come to our campus and help with the meal preparation. Since the group was comprised of eighth-graders, the weekend is the only time they can come in to help.

The easiest way to get the kids interested in the experience is to have them prepare the desserts! On Saturday, we made raspberry swirl cake and bread pudding with raisins. The raspberry swirl cake is easy to make and something we've done a lot. This was the first time we've made bread pudding, though. We get a ton of bread and use it only for sandwhiches. By making pudding we can make of a lot more of the bread.

The end results!
After is was all said and done, the group seemed to really enjoy the experience. They're signed up for a delivery shift in December, so next time they'll be able to see where the food goes!

Conference Day 3

The following is a three part account of the CKP Student Leadership Conference. (Part 1 of the recap. Part 2 of the recap.) Click here for more first-hand accounts of the conference.

CKP National Conference Day 3
Date: October 7, 2006
Location: Gonzaga College High School, Rosemary's Thyme

Everyone met at Gonzaga College High School for breakfast around 8:30 am, and then went over to Cantwell Hall for the Breakout Sessions. These sessions were 40-minute lessons on various concepts related to the Campus Kitchens Project.

The three Breakout Sessions I attended were "Marketing the Campus Kitchen" with Karen Borchert, "Managing the Budget" with Glenda Cognevich, and "Culinary Job Training" with Becky Locker. All three of the Breakout Sessions taught me something I didn't know about the Campus Kitchens Project.

This format was very helpful for me to learn about topics that I knew little about. Only one of my Leadership Team members was able to attend these sessions, and it would have been nice if more of them were there.

After the Breakout Sessions, we had lunch in the Jesuit Dining Room. This was followed by a lengthy discussion about what everyone learned at the conference. For me personally, it was incredible to witness how similar every Campus Kitchen is. We all face similar problems and this conference opened my eyes. During this part of the day, all the schools split up to make a list of what they want to accomplish. There were three dates used as goals in this exercise: by next week, by Dec. 31st, by next conference. We also had to list what we were going to do for the local Campus Kitchen as well as the Campus Kitchens Project as a whole.

The CKGCHS Plan
We had a brief break before reconvening at Rosemary's Thyme restaurant on 18th Street. The food there was excellent and the company was exquisite. There, the annual awards were presented to distinguished volunteers. I was really impressed by all of the volunteers that won accolades. It was so inspiring to hear their stories that it made me want to do more.

(L-R: Brian, Sara, Rebecca, Peter, Will)
The final day of the conference was my favorite because it allowed for the most communication between Campus Kitchens. Hearing everyone talk about their kitchen made me realize how similar our causes are. In the same way Robert Egger is bringing together non-profits, we need to work together to achieve the ultimate goal of ending hunger in America.

Conference Day 2

The following is an account of the CKP Student Leadership conference. (Part 1 of the recap. Part 3 of the recap.) Click here for more first-hand accounts of the conference.

CKP National Conference Day 2
Date: October 6, 2006
Location: DC Central Kitchen, First Baptist Church, Gonzaga College High School

The second day of the conference began bright and early at DC Central Kitchen. We arrived at 6am, in the pouring rain, to begin volunteering in the kitchen. This cooking shift marked the 5th year anniversary to the day of the first ever Campus Kitchen cooking shift. Everyone wore their CKP 5th Year Anniversary t-shirts, and it was quite the sight to behold.

After a fantastic introductary speech by Becky, everyone got to work in a different section of the kitchen. I was placed at the vegetable station, cutting up celery and carrots. Cutting celery for three hours gave most of our team blisters on our cutting hands, but it was a small price to pay for such a worthy cause.

Celery boards and the celery team (L-R: Brian, Sara, Monica, Meaghan, James)

In addition to making the meals for DCCK's usual clients, we also made the meals for Gonzaga's delivery. The kitchen that we use at Gonzaga College High School is way too small to accomodate the more than 40 people that showed up for this cooking shift.

Following the cooking shift, DC Central Kitchen founder Robert Egger (Pictured Right) spoke with the group. Robert is one of the best speakers I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. The first time I ever heard him speak was at the 64th Graduation class of DC Central Kitchen's culinary job training course, and he keeps getting better ever time I hear him. The main aspect of his talk that I will remember is his analogy of the wishbone and the backbone. There are two bones one can cook with, the wishbone and the backbone. The wishbone will make thin soup, but the backbone will provide a full meal. In short, if you really want to start cooking, you're going to need the backbone.

After finishing up at DC Central Kitchen, the big group split in two. The leadership team members and volunteers stayed at the kitchen and worked on a new constitution, while the group of coordinators took the Metro over to the national office's building, the First Baptist Church.

While there, we had a cooking exercise taught by Barton Seaver (Pictured Left). Barton is the executive chef at two of D.C.'s finest restaurants, Bar Pilar and Café Saint-Ex. I thought it was fascinating that an accomplished chef who has travelled extensively around the world would be such a proponent of locally grown food. As his hat read, "No farms, no food." Barton brought a bunch of fresh, locally purchased, organic ingrediants for us to cook with. These included: tomatoes, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, vegetable oil, lemons, green beans, sausage, and bacon among many others.

After hearing Barton speak about the possible uses of all the fresh veggies, we split up into small groups and experimented with all the possibilities. Becky from CKP, Jen from Northwestern and I worked on a little dish with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and cheese.

When life hands you lemons...

... make delicious pasta! (L-R: Jen, Brian, Becky)

Following the cooking demonstration, we all sat down and ate lunch provided by California Tortilla. After that it was off to Gonzaga College High School for our usual Friday delivery shift, which went very well. Unfortunately, due to the rain the scheduled tour of the area was scrapped. There were three Gonzaga Leadership Team members that led three groups of volunteers to our locations. Because of our usual Friday food pickup, I wasn't able to go with them. I heard, however, that it was the highlight of the weekend for some of the volunteers.

After the delivery shift, there was some free time to explore Washington, D.C. and to prepare for the final day of the conference!

Conference Day 1

The following is a three part account of the CKP Student Leadership conference. (Part 2 of the recap. Part 3 of the recap.) Click here for more first-hand accounts of the conference.

CKP National Conference Day 1
Date: October 5, 2006
Locations: Gonzaga College High School, DC Central Kitchen

On the first day of the conference, the members from Campus Kitchen's across the nation converged at Gonzaga College High School. Coordinators and Leadership Team members from Saint Louis University, Northwestern Unitersity, Marquette University, Gonzaga University, Augsburg College, Minnesota State University at Mankato, Univeristy of Nebraska at Kearny and Wake Forest University all had people attend! It was really incredible to see so many people involved with the Campus Kitchens Project. It was also exciting to meet the people from possible future Campus Kitchens.

We had an orientation from 4-5pm where anyone interested received a tour of our campus. I had three members of our leadership team members take small groups around the grounds.

A tour of Gonzaga's campus.

Afterwards, we had speakers from Gonzaga, the McKenna Center, DC Central Kitchen and the Campus Kitchens Project's national office. Mike Curtin, the Chief Operation Officer at DCCK as well as a Gonzaga graduate, spoke with the 40 or so people in attendance.

Mike Curtin.

Following the speakers, we walked over to the DC Central Kitchen for a taste-testing. At all the different stations, they offered incredible food including pasta with sun dried tomatoes, spinach and cheese, and potstickers. The food is always delicious at the kitchen, and this time was no different!

Salad Station.
Starch Station. Vegetable Station with Becky and Brian.

Overall it was a fantastic first day! The speakers at Gonzaga and the taste-testing at DC Central Kitchen both gave the visitors a brief glimpse of what was to come. The day ended somewhat early, which was nice because we had to meet back at DC Central Kitchen the next day at 6 in the morning!

CKP National Conference

This weekend we're celebrating the 5th year of the Campus Kitchens Project!! The annual conference is in Washington, D.C., so a lot of the activities are on Gonzaga's campus.

Woohoo!
Check back this weekend for more information and pictures of the conference!