DCCK gets off to a big start in 2017

Our current Poverty and Health beneficiary, DC Central Kitchen (DCCK) recently celebrated their 28th anniversary on a day when most of Washington, D.C. was shut down by the recent inauguration.

Rather than skip a day of meals, the dedicated staff of cooks and drivers ramped up their efforts to send two days’ worth of meals out on Thursday, covering all partner agencies who would normally receive meals on Friday. For more than four weeks, they planned everything from identifying ingredients that could be served cold, ensuring that clients at agencies without ovens or reheating equipment could still receive their meals, to mastering the challenge of sending meals out of the Kitchen, to working around the complicated logistics of receiving deliveries at their facility during inauguration week. All told, DCCK delivered 10,547 meals the day before the inauguration and an additional 700 meals for Red Cross employees from January 18-20.

This was especially poignant since Robert Egger launched DCCK during the inauguration of George H. W. Bush. He picked up leftover food from inaugural balls and turned the food into meals for the community. They've come a long way, now using recovered food consisting mostly of fresh produce to prepare more than 5,000 healthy meals for our community each day.

They never take a day off – the health and nourishment of their neighbors is too important. That’s why, on their 28th anniversary, they did what they do every day – they used food as a tool to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build their community to make a stronger and more inclusive city for everyone. In the last eight years, they've trained 752 adults with histories of incarceration, homelessness, addiction, and chronic unemployment for culinary careers with an 89% job placement rate. Their community meals program works hand-in-hand with their Culinary Job Training program to prepare adults facing high barriers to employment for careers in the foodservice industry.

Foundation Beyond Belief is proud to work with DCCK again this quarter and to support their important work in empowering their students and working to end hunger.