IU students forming first Big Ten Campus Kitchens Project

“Teach, reach, feed, lead.”

A group of students outlined this motto Wednesday at a call-out meeting for one of IU’s newest student groups – the Campus Kitchens Project.

Five members of the group’s executive board explained the project to about 20 students who came to the meeting. Through the program, students use kitchen space on campus to prepare extra food left from dining halls as well as donated food. They then deliver it to individuals and groups in the community.

Before the meeting, junior and co-founder Kelly Childs said she has been planning the program for IU since her freshman year.

“It’s exciting now because we’re starting to get a name,” she said.

The national Campus Kitchens Project, which will fund the startup of the IU branch began in 2001. It began as a collaboration between two community kitchens said junior Steve Mendenhall, who is vice president and treasurer for IU’s Campus Kitchens Project.

Now, 11 participating colleges and one high school across the country operate campus kitchens, including Northwestern University and Minnesota State University.

And the organization won’t just stop at making meals. Childs said the group will offer extra services, such as tutoring, hosting health fairs and teaching people how to cook.

Freshman Rebekah Niedner, who went to the call out meeting, said an e-mail she received about the Campus Kitchens Project stood apart from other groups – it seemed to have a clear goal and some variety.

“I think it’s cool that they’ll sit with kids or the elderly – that’s a neat aspect,” she said.
While the group is still talking with Residential Programs and Services to find a location on campus to operate from, Childs said the group will start sending members to volunteer at various area agencies such as Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, 1010 S. Walnut St. and Community Kitchen, 917 S. Rogers St.

Childs said IU’s kitchen will probably serve 20 to 30 meals each day the kitchen is operating. She added the group will also work with local organizations, including Hilltop Garden and Nature Center, to provide organic and locally grown food.

But creating a branch on campus isn’t easy, said Indiana Memorial Union General Manager Steve Mangan, who advises the group. The process for creating a kitchen, he said, involves an application process with the national organization and obtaining funding, space and support from University officials. But, he added, the experience will be worth it.

“These things can be life-changing and career-changing,” he said. “It’s a huge project to pull together.”

Mangan said he talked with Childs and the rest of the group about talking with similar organizations in Bloomington to make sure the kitchen would complement those organizations rather than simply perform the same function.

Community Kitchen Executive Director Vicki Pierce said she spoke with Childs a while ago about the project and said Childs wanted to make sure the project would work to address needs that might not already be met by other agencies around town.

“If they do what we’re doing and leave the gaps, they’re not ahead,” Pierce said, adding that “gaps” could mean people who are homebound or live in a certain location
in town that’s hard to get to.

Along with getting students involved through the call-out meeting, the group also plans to set up a booth at Timmypalooza this Sunday, Childs said.

“We’re hoping we’re appealing,” she said. “We’re not requiring weekly attendance, and you can come for an hour a week.”