A group of over 100 NTC attendees headed this morning to the DC Central Kitchen, Tech Recycling Day and a wireless network installation to volunteer for 3 hours.
There is no better way to start a conference!

I’m in Washington, DC for the Nonprofit Technology Conference hosted by NTEN. For the last 10 years, NTEN has facilitated their “Day of Service“, a program allowing NTEN members to volunteer locally where the conference takes place. This was my first time, and there is no doubt that it was the best way to start at a conference.

This year Day of Service offered the opportunity to volunteer on three different projects: Tech Recycling Day, a wireless network installation, and a meal preparation at DC Central Kitchen. I choose the DC Central Kitchen and had the change to chat with their Founder, Robert Egger, along with Beth Kanter, Social media Guru and author of The Networked Nonprofit and Mark Horvath, advocate for homeless who uses social media to tell their stories.

DC Central Kitchen turns leftover food into millions of meals for thousands of at-risk individuals while offering nationally recognized culinary job training to once homeless and hungry adults. Robert shared his unique vision “Everyone has a role here, everyone has the opportunity to add value“. DC Central Kitchen serves over 5,000 meals a day and recycled 2 tons of food per day. Transparency is the core of their community. All the volunteers have rights, and it is taken every seriously. Robert shared “People are hungry, not just for food though”

Some interesting facts:

  • They recycle 3,000 pounds of food each day, convert it into 5,000 meals that they distribute to 100 shelters, transitional homes, and rehabilitation clinics throughout the DC area.
  • They enroll unemployed adults overcoming homelessness, addiction, and incarceration in a twelve week professional education program, preparing them for success in the kitchen and in life.
  • They have a 95% placement rate for individuals going through their program
  • They have a amazing Volunteer Bill of Rights

I am especially thankful to Steve Hardy, the Master Salad Prep who coordinating around 15 of us this morning. It takes a certain personality to work so hard and manage new people that are unfamiliar with what needs to be done. We got all the vegetables and  salads ready for around 4,500 meals.

I want to thank you the staff at DC Central Kitchen as well as the NTEN crew for making this morning a very special ones. For those interested to donate to DC Central Kitchen, it is another way to support them.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Print Friendly Print Friendly

Tags: , , , , , , ,