Christine came to DC Central Kitchen in the spring of 2018 while she was living at Shepherd’s Cove, a homeless shelter in Capitol Heights, MD. Initially unsure of whether our Culinary Job Training program was for her, she enrolled, began to “trust the process,” and didn’t look back. Christine and her team won the cook-off competition (judged by Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema) and she earned the highest GPA of the class. Her proudest moment, however, was being selected by her peers to represent their class and speak at their graduation.
At Capital Food Fight last fall, Christine was awarded the North Star award, an annual award is given in honor of our beloved colleague and long-time director of our Culinary Job Training program, Marianne Ali, who passed away in August 2017 after a courageous battle with cancer. It serves as a reminder of Marianne’s legacy at DC Central Kitchen and our commitment to supporting the continued growth and professional development of our graduates.
Today, Christine has joined the DC Central Kitchen team full time as the Program Assistant on the Community Meals team. “Being a part of the DCCK family as an employee has been a great blessing. I am a very proud product of CJT and recipient of the Marianne Ali North Star Award. I am very happy to to able to put food on my table because DCCK cares about putting food on the tables of thousands of people daily. “