This week has been quite busy as the Campus Kitchen is taking a role in academic experiences.  Professor Art Goldsmith is teaching the Economics of Social Issues and has requested that his students get involved with the Campus Kitchen.  We are THRILLED with the influx of volunteers and excited to introduce more of the W&L community to our wonderful clients.

-served 1,643 meals

-passed along  2,261 lbs of food to local food pantries

-enlisted 184 volunteer hours from 50 volunteers

-recovered 4,923 lbs of food that would otherwise have gone to waste

Thank you to our dedicated volunteers!  Each month we will feature the volunteers who cross a new threshold in service here with our statistics!  The new year began July 1st, 2011 so hours are counted from that date.

Completing over 20 hours through December 31st:

• Barlow and Enna Mae Newbolt
• Josh Paldino
• Laura and Libby Pearson
• The Lexington Baptist Youth Group

-served 2,233 meals

-passed along  4,136 lbs of food to local food pantries

-enlisted 401.5 volunteer hours from 70 volunteers

-recovered 7,984 lbs of food that would otherwise have gone to waste

Thank you to our dedicated volunteers!  Each month we will feature the volunteers who cross a new threshold in service here with our statistics!  The new year began July 1st, 2011 so hours are counted from that date.

Completing over 20 hours through November 30th:

• Alyssa Hardnett
• Charles Myers
• Elise Hansen
• Joseph Liu
• Kathryn Marsh-Soloway
• Kate LeMasters
• MaryBeth Schuder
• Sara Hardman

Competing over 50 hours through November 30th:

• Alvin Thomas
• Jenny Bulley
• Kelsey Sizer
• Shiri Yadlin

-served 2,680 meals

-passed along  2,390 lbs of food to local food pantries

-enlisted 401 volunteer hours from 75 volunteers

-recovered 6,009 lbs of food that would otherwise have gone to waste

Thank you to our dedicated volunteers!  Each month we will feature the volunteers who cross a new threshold in service here with our statistics!  The new year began July 1st, 2011 so hours are counted from that date.

Completing over 20 hours through October 31st:

• Alex Shabo
• Angelica Tillander
• Emily Warner
• Jenny Bulley
• Josy Tarantini
• Kate Cancelmo
• Nicole Gunaswana
• Patrick Poindexter
• Shiri Yadlin

I'll have a little bit of everything on my pizza!

As clients went through the line (or gathered around tables) they had the option to load their whole wheat pizza crust with healthy options in addition to sauce and cheese:

• spinach
• pineapple
• mushrooms
• red onions
• bell peppers
• baked chicken bits

Enjoying a pizza lunch at RAOC

As we baked the pizza we talked about the importance of whole grains for our digestive system, and also the variety of vitamins found in our veggie toppings.

Veggie loaded whole grain pizza. Yum!

Adding whole wheat flour to your pizza crust recipe is an easy way to make your meal a bit more nutritious.  Adding veggies galore goes much further and provides for a balanced lunch.  Are you ready to try?  Here’s the crust recipe:

Mix and knead (or use a mixer):

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 TBSP yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose or bread flour

Once the dough has come together, toss or roll it out, put on your desired toppings and pop it in a 425 degree oven for 15-18 minutes.  Enjoy!

Ingrid Easton '06

The Campus Kitchens Project national office gives out several awards at the annual conference gathering.  One of these awards is the Ingrid Easton Student Visionary Award, which recognizes the entrepreneurial drive in out student leaders, who dream big and make it happen.  The award is named in honor of Ingrid Easton, Washington and Lee University graduate 2006 who achieved her goal of opening a Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee University in September 2006.

Turkeypalooza 2010, Shiri Yadlin '12 is on the right.

Equally exciting with having an award named in honor of a W&L student, is that on Friday evening the annual award was given to Shiri Yadlin ’12.  Shiri has been involved as a volunteer with CKWL since her freshman year, and a key member of the Student Leadership Team ever since.  She is our Campus Outreach Intern, organizing fundraisers, food drives, and  Turkeypalooza’s Bring Your Turkey to Work Day.  Shiri also leads multiple shifts each week.

I was honored to nominate Shiri for this award, and thrilled to have the CKP staff recognize Shiri for all her hard work.  Congratulations Shiri!

Our Campus Kitchen is striving to make a big impact on hunger in Rockbridge County.  We add to our operations because a higher meal count automatically makes a bigger impact.  Instead of packing 120 backpacks/week we’re packing 300+.  Bigger number, bigger impact.

But what about going beyond just serving meals?  What can we do to make an impact that lasts longer than the calories provided by the food?  That is what CKWL is starting to look at, and here are our ideas:

• Hold cooking sessions with clients.  These will start next week with the Magnolia Center and the Rockbridge Area Occupational Center.  Hopefully a bit more education about cooking will help keep stomachs full long term.

• Improve and expand our youth nutrition education classes.  Continue to teach the value of a balanced diet, but also address hunger issues in Rockbridge County.  We want to talk about food insecurity and proper nutrition together.
• Develop a healthy cooking on a budget curriculum to open up to the community.  We have a vision, but still need to make real progress.

What about you?  Has your CK made a big impact outside of meals served?  What ideas do you have to reach the community?

-served 2,726 meals

-passed along  2,551 lbs of food to local food pantries

-enlisted 374 volunteer hours from 73 volunteers

-recovered 7,659 lbs of food that would otherwise have gone to waste

Thank you to our dedicated volunteers!  Each month we will feature the volunteers who cross a new threshold in service here with our statistics!  The new year began July 1st, 2011 so hours are counted from that date.

Completing over 50 hours to date

• Isaac Webb

Completing over 20 hours to date:

• Alvin Thomas
• Beverly Bruck
• Kelsey Sizer

-served 1,755 meals

-passed along  3,398 lbs of food to local food pantries

-enlisted 207.5 volunteer hours from 91 volunteers

-recovered 6,199 lbs of food that would otherwise have gone to waste