DC Central Kitchen Production Cook Marian greets each group of volunteers on her shifts in the CoBank Volunteer Zone with a boisterous, “Welcome to DC Central Kitchen, where my dreams came true!”
Working side by side with volunteers on a daily basis, Marian does more than ensure they’re holding their knives correctly and making the right cuts. She’s an evangelist for the Kitchen.
“Marian opens about her journey and makes everyone feel welcome and comfortable,” says Production Kitchen Manager Darlene King. “The volunteers love her.”
Spend any time with Marian and she’s more than happy to speak about her journey that first led her to the Culinary Job Training program in 2019.
“I was on drugs. I wasn’t making good choices,” she shares. “I heard [the Culinary Job Training program] was a very good program…I came here because DC Central Kitchen made me want to be a better person.”
Though she wanted to be there, it wasn’t always easy. “I didn’t like to be told what to do,” Marian recalls. “So I was having a hard time in class, but once I took the cotton out my ears and put it in my mouth. I listened and I paid attention. When I graduated, I got Most Improved for Class 115.”
After graduation, Marian spent the next several years working at various organizations around Washington, DC before returning to work full-time at the Kitchen in 2024.
“I’ve worked for the District Government, the Federal Government, the United States Marines, National Geographic. Even when I was at National Geographic, I always wanted to be at DC Central Kitchen, because that’s where my life started. DC Central Kitchen made me feel everything was going to be OK, to just keep trying, don’t give up,” she shares. “DC Central Kitchen is by far the best job I’ve ever worked in my life!”
Though the name and the mission are the same as when Marian first began her DC Central Kitchen journey, the actual space is very, very different. “When I came here and I walked through this front door, it just hit my heart,” Marian says about her first visit to the Klein Center for Jobs and Justice. “As I walked down the hallway, I got a little emotional. It’s still amazing. I was used to [the old DC Central Kitchen location in the basement of the Federal Shelter] 2nd and D, but here you get windows. You get sunlight. [CEO] Mike Curtin’s office is right there with us. It just feeds my soul.”
Marian’s enthusiasm at returning to the Kitchen is inspiring. “I’m clean today,” she proclaims. “No interrupted time. I haven’t done any drugs. I’m with my family and have their support. I’ve been through the fire and I’m still standing. DC Central Kitchen has afforded me so much. I shop, I eat, I have money in my account. I have insurance. I have 401K plan. I have dental. I have all these things because DC Central Kitchen took a chance.”
Just because she’s working where she wants, she’s not done evolving. “I’m extremely glad to be back home at the Kitchen. My life has changed tremendously. Not only because of a job change. I’m learning even at my age. I’m almost 60-years-old. I’m learning how to hold onto something and to do my job and to be respectful. I wasn’t making good choices. But it’s come full circle and I owe a part of that to DC Central Kitchen. It’s amazing. I get excited because I’m grateful. I’m so loud and so passionate about my job. DC Central Kitchen saves lives.”
