Celebrating our School Lunch Heroes
On May 5th, we celebrated a group of School Lunch Heroes: our incredible Healthy School Food team! Each member of this team goes above and beyond every day to prepare and serve meals to the students at our 19 partner schools. But our school food heroes do more than simply serve nutritious meals to our […]
DCCK Volunteering Is Off to a Roaring Re-Start
It’s National Volunteer Month! What better time to re-launch our indoor volunteer program? We welcomed our first shift of volunteers at our new headquarters at the Michael R. Klein Center for Jobs & Justice on April 1st, and it’s been invigorating to see so many new and familiar faces join us since! Thanks to a […]
Grand Opening: DC Central Kitchen Celebrates Cafe Day
It is Spring in DC and a new Social Enterprise Cafe has bloomed in Buzzard Point! On March 31st, we unveiled our third Cafe at our new facility, the Michael R. Klein Center for Jobs and Justice. Like the other two Cafes, our new cafe features fresh coffee, fresh sandwiches and salads, healthy snacks, soft […]
The COVID Response Stories We Never Told
In the three years since COVID-19 struck our city, DC Central Kitchen has adapted to one profound change after another. We’ve worked to be as transparent as possible about what we’ve seen, learned, and modified, using our platform to share the perspectives of people and communities hit hardest by the pandemic and honoring the trust […]
Field Trip: CJT Visits Marriott International’s Global Headquarters
On February 16th, our latest class of Culinary Job Training students had the incredible opportunity to tour the new Marriott International Global headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. During the tour, our students were able to visit Marriott’s Associate Growth Center, Executive Level Meeting Rooms, Planning Conference Rooms, and finally, the phenomenal Marriott Kitchen. Four long-time Marriott […]
Serving Up Salmon
Thanks to The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute, salmon will be on DCCK’s menu this month! This past week, The Freshwater Institute donated 1,200 pounds of this sustainably-raised fish to our kitchen. Cultivated from eggs at The Freshwater Institute’s research site in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, as part of a trial to compare the growth of four […]
Fresh Feature Friday at Smothers Elementary
Fourth and fifth graders at Smothers Elementary School had the opportunity to taste test three new butternut squash recipes during their lunch period on January 20th. The tasting was part of our monthly Fresh Feature Fridays program, which introduces healthy food options and empowers the students to help shape future menu options at our 19 […]
DC Restaurants Launch Fundraisers to Celebrate DCCK’s 34th Anniversary
DC Central Kitchen is commemorating our 34th anniversary on Friday, January 20th! Since that first night in 1989, we’ve served millions of meals to shelters, community centers, and schools, expanded access to healthy, fresh groceries in food apartheid areas, and trained more than 2000 individuals facing high barriers to employment in the culinary arts. None […]
Becoming The Change I Want: Reflections from a CJT Grad
Since 1989, DC Central Kitchen has empowered more than 2,000 individuals through their award-winning Culinary Job Training Program (CJT), including me! As a recent graduate of the 2022 Fall Cohort, I want to tell my story and share the wisdom that motivated both myself and my fellow classmates throughout our 13 weeks of training. When I […]
Winter Break Mobile Food Truck Meals
We are finally at the end of the year, and winter break starts at the end of this week for many of our schools. Our DCCK team wants to make sure our children and community have access to free nutritious meals throughout next week. Our trucks will be out in the community with free healthy […]