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2024 ANNUAL REPORT

GROW. NOURISH. ENGAGE. INVEST.

Lean more about our impact this year.

watch how we fight hunger differently

a message from our CEO

Last year, DC Central Kitchen marked 35 years of serving our city. All year long, we honored that milestone the only way we knew how: showing up every single day and finding ways to do more. As a supporter of DC Central Kitchen, you know that we will never end hunger with food alone, and we certainly won’t end it by taking days off, standing pat, or taking the safe route. 

Because of you, we nourished more people than ever, boosting our yearly production to 3.9 million meals. That’s an increase of 1.2 million meals over last year! Our Culinary Job Training program empowered growing numbers of people to trade poverty and unemployment for real careers. We invested in a healthier, more prosperous community by helping more small businesses sell nutritious, affordable foods and by creating dozens of living-wage jobs with industry leading benefits for our culinary graduates. And in a time of disconnection and division, we engaged a record number of volunteers while showing how a front-line nonprofit can be a force for real progress. 

Nourishing. Growing. Investing. Engaging. These aren’t buzzwords. They’re our commitment to you. I hope you enjoy seeing the results you made possible in 2024 in the annual report below and by watching this powerful film by Run Riot.

Thank you, 

Mike Curtin Jr. 

CEO, DC Central Kitchen

OUR IMPACT

our favorite stories

Our 50 millionth meal. Our largest Culinary Job Training program graduation ever. Our boldest expansions of school and senior nutrition programs yet. Take a look into the milestones that helped us show up for our city in new ways last year. Click through each section to read, watch, and learn more. 

Growing what works.

expanding access to training
Our Culinary Job Training program offered more class sessions than ever before, producing 131 inspiring graduates and offering two specialized classes for low-income single mothers.
our biggest graduation ever
Record Number of Thanksgiving Meals
To keep pace with rising local needs, we added an overnight shift in our kitchen and served 69,000 Thanksgiving meals—double last year’s total.
DCCK provides 69,000 meals
Open 365 Days a Year
After a record-setting Thanksgiving, we moved right along to the next holidays, welcoming volunteers into the Klein Center every single day, including Christmas.
DCCK Hosts Holiday Volunteers
Increased Home-Delivered Meals to Seniors
We fulfilled a bold promise: doubling the number of food insecure seniors receiving our daily home-delivered meals in less than a year. In 2024, 170 seniors received nearly 50,000 meals through this innovative program.
DCCK & doordash serve seniors
A Second Truck Farm to Teach Kids Gardening
We added a second Truck Farm to our fleet, bringing these thriving, fun mobile urban gardens to partner schools and youth programs to teach healthy habits!
see our truck farm in action

Fighting hunger differently.

We’ve Doubled the Number of Students We Serve
7,000 children at 30 schools now count on us for quality nutrition—and we earned a 92% student satisfaction rating from discerning public school students of all ages!
OUR HEALTHY SCHOOL FOOD PROGRAM ADDS 12 SCHOOLS
Our 50 Millionth Meal
We know food alone won’t end hunger, but every meal we’ve served over our first 35 years has helped elevate the individual receiving it and the community in which it’s served.
DCCK celebrates 50 million meals
Our Most Successful Week of Healthy Corners
Our innovative Healthy Corners program posted all-time record sales of affordable fruits and vegetables at our 57 partner corner stores and is now working to bring this proven model to places like Indianapolis and the Mississippi Delta.
Inside Our Biggest Week Ever
Food & Farm Fridays at THEARC
We joined a new place-based partnership in Ward 8, bringing nutritious meals and healthy cooking demonstrations to seniors and other neighbors throughout the summer and fall.
Creating Access and Opportunity in Southeast DC
Healthy Corners’ Most Unique Location
This summer, we expanded our partnership with the Washington Nationals. Healthy Corners is now available at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in Southeast DC.
FRESH PRODUCE AT NATS ACADEMY
Fighting Food Insecurity in Innovative Ways
We stepped up our summer feeding efforts, serving more summer meals to children and families across DC than ever before.
benefit cuts and Grocery prices cause dc hunger spike
Feeding the First Responders
The tragic DCA plane crash struck especially close to home, as our facility sits at the tip of Buzzard Point on the Potomac River, a stones-throw from the crash site. Thanks to more than 250 people and families who made online donations, we were able to feed first responders for almost 2 weeks.
DCCK serves meals to first responders

Coming together for our city.

Record Number of Volunteers
19,000 volunteers donated their time and talent to DC Central Kitchen! These volunteers included service-learning classes, leading corporate partners, and Vice President Harris and her family.
the second family visits DCCK
Inspiring Our Culinary Job Training Students
We shared our knowledge and insights with more than 1,100 visiting nonprofit partners, academic experts, young leaders, and foodservice professionals. Visits from professional athletes from the Nationals, Wizards, Capitals, Commanders, Washington Spirit, Old Glory DC, and celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay, Carla Hall, Andrew Zimmern, and Spike Mendelsohn inspired our culinary students.
Gordon Ramsay visits Class 168
Recognition from the White House
We were invited to serve healthy treats to DC children at the White House in October 2024 and earned a 2024 Community Leadership Award from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition for our holistic food access partnership with the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.
dcck receives the president's council award
A Party 20 Years in the Making
DC's baddest night of doing good, Capital Food Fight, celebrated its 20th year and welcomed a record crowd and 80 participating restaurants at The Anthem.
capital food fight celebrates 20 years
Hosting Thought Partners at our new home
One of the benefits of the Klein Center is the ability to bring in large groups of leaders from around the world. We were honored to host the Catalyst Kitchens' Northeast Regional Summit over two days last March.
DCCK hosts leader summit
Just Show Up
We began the year with an essay from Culinary Job Training graduate Darrin M. of Class 161. In his piece, “Just Show Up” he wrote, “Every day is another opportunity to show up for what’s most important.” He’s absolutely right. And we’ll continue showing up for this city and its people.
Read Darrin's Story

Investing with purpose

A Transformational Investment
In 2024, DC Central Kitchen received a one-time gift from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. This incredible investment will fuel our continued growth, maximize the impact of our entire donor community, and allow us to advance the sustainability of partner nonprofits who are essential to our mission.
DCCK puts a remarkable gift to work
Culinary Job Training Success Stories
By investing in our Culinary Job Training program graduates’ health, stability, and upward mobility, these committed individuals now represent 38% of our management and leadership personnel.
Meet Antonio
A Perfect Score from Charity Navigator
DC Central Kitchen generated $130 million in measurable social, environmental, and economic benefits for our community last year while earning a four-star rating and a 100% score from the accountability experts at Charity Navigator.
Our Charity Navigator Rating
Investment in Our Farmers, Students, Staff, Volunteers, and the Earth
We invested $1.7 million in local farmers last year, equipping them to grow even more nutritious food for our community. Our innovative sustainability practices included providing a free electric shuttle from our nearest Metro stop for students, volunteers, and staff. We operate one of the largest commercial foodservice biodigesters in the world, transforming our food scraps and peels into graywater while using digital scales to continuously track and minimize waste.
celebrating earth day 2024

Our Financials

In Fiscal Year 2024, we worked tirelessly to bolster our own social enterprise revenue, partner with diverse philanthropic supporters of all sizes, and maintain highly efficient operations that maximized our direct impact.

view our full 2024 financials

THANK YOU

DC Central Kitchen is grateful for the thousands of financial supporters, partners, and volunteers who make our work possible every year through their generous gifts of time and resources. We are honored to recognize many of these contributions in our 2024 donor list. Donor lists for the current fiscal year of 2025 will appear in the corresponding annual report, which will be available in the Spring of 2026. 

Fiscal Year 2024 Donors

our commitment to accessibility

DCCK is committed to accessibility for everyone. This past year, we’ve furthered this commitment to accessibility in our digital communications in partnership with Ablr, a social enterprise that employs and utilizes people who are blind and visually impaired in providing audits, training, and consulting for all digital content. The design of this annual report reflects everything we have learned and improved through this partnership.