The Largest Community Kitchen in America

D.C. Central Kitchen, located in Washington, D.C., is the largest provider of recycled meals in the country. In total, the community Kitchen has provided over 27 million meals- and counting- to homeless and low-income families. But providing meals to those in need isn't all they do. They also provide culinary training programs to teach adults how to cook and work in a kitchen. All the meals the culinary students create are given out, so its basically its a circle of good things happening. They also provide and encourage healthy affordable lunches to schools in the D.C. area.

Numbers
As I stated before, in total DCCK has provided over 27 million meals, and that number is still rising. All these meals, about 5,000 a day, are given to 82 different non-profit organizations that give them out. They have had 772 graduates from their culinary program, with an 89% job placement rate, and job retention rate of 87%. 63 of their graduates in 2011 were ex-offenders, and once these men and women complete the program they are 94% less likely to end up back in prison.

Volunteer
To truly make a difference in your community, one of the best things to do is volunteer. It helps out those in need, while giving you a feeling of pride and accomplishment. In my two service trips to Washington D.C., I have volunteered at DCCK about 5 or 6 times. Two of the times I cut up potatoes into cubes for three hours. This may seem tedious and like its not doing anything, but at the end you see the huge buckets of chopped potatoes and realize what you have done will feed numerous people. Potatoes are also my favorite food, so I was happy to share their deliciousness with others.

My friends and I at DCCK this summer, sporting the stylish hair nets that you're required to wear