News for Donations

How We’re Engaging Local Businesses

We’ve partnered with 30 corner stores to deliver fresh fruits and veggies to DC neighborhoods without fully stocked grocery stores.

We couldn’t do our work without our growing list of business partnerships. Here’s a recap of their amazing contributions.

Local Restaurants
Restaurants have always been an integral part of what we do. It all started in 1989 when our founder, Robert Egger, started recovering food from local restaurants, hotels, and catering operations to be used in meals to feed hungry district residents. Since then, restaurants have given us much more than leftovers. From participating in our events to providing internships and job opportunities for our culinary students, restaurants are the bread and butter of what makes DC Central Kitchen work.

Local Farmers
When we do have to buy food, we’re committed to buying local. In 2012, we invested $156,523 into our area economy by purchasing produce and meat from area farmers. We increased the total poundage of locally sourced food in our meals by 22% from 2011. Last year, 30% of all of the ingredients used in our school meals were locally sourced.

DC Corner Stores
We’re combating poor health and creating opportunities for small businesses through Healthy Corners, our wholesale delivery service that provides fresh fruits and veggies to communities without fully stocked supermarkets. In 2012, our 30 partner corner stores sold $33,000 worth of fresh produce.

Food Distributors
In 2012, our Nutrition Lab facility in Northeast DC facilitated the recovery of 320,000 pounds of fresh produce from local food distributors. These are good fruits and veggies that are fresh and healthy, but are not perfect enough for sale. Our relationships with these distributors have led them to increase their donations over the years, allowing us to make our donations go further.

Workplaces
Last year, we received over $432,949 dollars in workplace giving campaign contributions from employees working at local businesses and government agencies based in the region. We’re proud of their support and their efforts to get more involved in our work by volunteering and hosting group fundraisers.

Corporations
DC Central Kitchen receives significant financial and in-kind support from local corporate partners. We’re proud to have many of our corporate partners listed as top corporate philanthropists by the Washington Business Journal, including Capital One, Clark Enterprises, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Geppetto Catering, and many others.

Donor Stories: Liam and Samantha Carey, ages 8 and 6

Liam and Samantha Carey, ages 8 and 6, are aspiring chefs. When they were challenged by a family friend to make a difference in their community, the brother and sister duo turned their passion for cooking into a fundraiser for DC Central Kitchen. They spent eight months developing a cookbook with some of their favorite recipes including “Egg in a Hole” and “Grandma’s ‘Oh I Didn’t Know You Were Dropping By’ Pasta.” In December, their cookbook was finally finished and they sold it to family, friends and classmates.

Earlier this month Liam, Samantha, their mom Kate, and a group of their classmates came to visit DC Central Kitchen to share their cookbook and present the $877.65 that they raised. Liam explained why they chose to dedicate their cookbook to DC Central Kitchen, saying, “They give kids food. If they don’t have breakfast at home, then they get a good lunch at school.” Samantha added, “I want to help people who don’t have a house.”

CoBank Awards DC Central Kitchen $1 Million

In an effort to support regional family farms and increase local purchasing power, CoBank, a Colorado-based cooperative bank and a member of the Farm Credit System, has awarded $1 million dollars to DC Central Kitchen.

Over the last two decades DC Central Kitchen has prepared more than 25 million meals for low-income and at-risk community members in DC. CoBank says, “DC Central Kitchen will utilize the $1 million grant to increase its capacity to transport, prepare, store and distribute locally grown foods throughout Washington D.C., to schools, homeless shelters, rehabilitation clinics and neighborhood corner stores.”

DC Central Kitchen sources much of its fresh, local produce from a farmer-owned auction facility in Dayton, Virginia, including tomatoes, peppers, corn, onions, squash and potatoes. In 2011, CoBank provided DC Central Kitchen with a grant to purchase a refrigerated truck and delivery van to transport produce to its food production hubs and distribution sites across Washington, DC. DC Central Kitchen staff incorporates locally-grown Virginia farm products into some 10,000 meals served each day at schools and partner agencies throughout the Washington metro area.

A key part of DC Central Kitchen’s work is to provide culinary job training for unemployed, homeless and other underprivileged adults in order to provide them with a path to a career in the food service industry.

While announcing this grant, Robert B. Engel, president and chief executive officer of CoBank, said, “DC Central Kitchen’s unique and creative business model is able to connect food supplied by local farmers in rural areas with demand in the inner city. As a mission-based lender, we’re delighted to be making an investment that will bring the benefit of local foods to even more of the thousands of people that DC Central Kitchen serves each year.”

Michael Curtin Jr., DC Central Kitchen Chief Executive Officer said, “We are focused on increasing the nutritional value of our meals in addition to overall volume. Local produce helps us to significantly enhance the quality of our product, and we’re grateful for the help that CoBank is providing us to achieve that goal.”

Click  here for more information on CoBank.

Thanks to all our Holiday Food Donors

A special thanks to all of our 2012 Christmas/Holiday donors. In December, we received over 5,600 pounds of food, 25 boxes of toiletries and clothing, and $3,862 in cash donations to purchase food.

Food Donors:

University of District of Columbia – Connie Williams

• Food drive –  70 lbs

SmithBucklin

•  Food drive – 50 lbs

SRA International Inc.

• $500 gift card to Honeybaked Ham Company  - 60 lbs

Jennifer Offer

• Healthy Returns snacks- made at son’s Bar Mitzpha – 100 lbs

Air Force Petroleum Agency

• Donated  15 turkeys – 300 lbs

American Israeli Public Affairs Committee

• Food Drive – 100 lbs

Clark Construction

• Food drives with sub-contractors including:
  • Clark-Smoot-Russel Group
  • Harmon Inc. – $500 donation

Federal Bureau of Prisons

• Food drive and Toiletries and clothing- 250 lbs food and box of clothing

Applied Security Inc.

• Food drive and $1150 donation – 100 lbs

Military Personnel Services Corporation

• Food drive – 60 lbs

McBee Strategic Consulting

• Food drive and toiletries, clothing – 40 lbs

Mitchell and Titus LLP

• Food drive and coats – 90 lbs of food

DC United

• Food drive – 50 lbs

Greater Washington Ascend Chapter

• Holiday party-toiletry drive – 5 bags and $212 donation

Deloitte Inc.

• Silent Auction- raised $1500

American University

• Holiday party to collect Toiletries and canned goods- 10 boxes of toiletries and 100 lbs canned goods

American University Basketball Team

• Donated $500

Real Estate Financial Modeling

• Toiletry Drive – 1 box

University of Maryland

• Collection for First Helping- bedding, clothes, household items and toiletries – 4 boxes

Folger Shakespeare Library

• First Helping Items – 1 box – toiletries and hats and gloves

Clara Barton Condos

• First Helping items – 1 box

Kelly Miller Middle School

• Canned food drive – 30 lbs

East Lynn Farm and Fair Oaks Farm

• 3 Frozen Turkeys – 60 lbs

Dining Halls Closing for holiday break donations:

George Washington University:

• Prepared food and frozen protein – 250 lbs

Gallaudet University

• 20 cases produce – 1,000 lbs

University of Maryland

• 3 pallets – 1790 lbs

Marymount University

• Dairy and perishables – 800 lbs

Beauvoir School

• Dairy products – 300 lbs

Donate Today to Double Your Impact

Donate to DC Central Kitchen by Midnight on Saturday, December 15th, and the 15 Foundation will match your contribution 100 percent up to $25,000. That’s double the impact!

The 15 Foundation was formed by radio personality, author, and actress Robin Quivers in an effort to brighten the futures of at-risk children and help support effective, visionary programs providing educational attainment, nutritional improvement and creative access for young people from marginalized or resource-challenged communities.

This year, DC Central Kitchen is partnering with Robin Quivers and the 15 Foundation to support Healthy Futures, our wraparound approach to combating hunger and promoting health in DC neighborhoods.

We’re excited that Robin and the 15 Foundation are now part of this innovative approach to tackling some of our city’s most challenging problems. Make your gift today to invest in brighter, healthier futures for DC families – and it will be eligible for a match from the 15 Foundation!