Walmart Foundation Funds Six New Campus Kitchens

The Campus Kitchen Coordinator at Washington and Lee University picked up 5000 pounds of food from the Lexington, Va. Walmart last November. Students from the Campus Kitchen at the University of Nebraska, Kearney worked through their local food bank to gather bakery donations from the town’s Walmart.

Recently, the Walmart Foundation turned its local influence on The Campus Kitchens Project into a national commitment, pledging $300,000 for the creation of six new campus kitchens over the next two years.

“It’s a more holistic approach,” said Maeve Miccio, Project Manager of the Walmart Foundation “It is thinking about really impacting people’s lives beyond just food.”

The Walmart Foundation first connected with The Campus Kitchens Project through CKP’s parent organization, DC Central Kitchen, which serves as a model for meal service and additional programming at the 26 kitchens nationwide. Foundation staff learned about the mission of The Campus Kitchens Project – to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities – and reached out from there. Miccio said she heard good things from other longstanding funders and decided to put together a proposal.

“One of our areas of focus is hunger relief,” said Miccio. “In light of the economy we have really shifted our focus to meeting basic needs.”

Miccio said that the combination of hunger relief, service, and sustainability makes The Campus Kitchen Project a good fit for the Walmart Foundation. She also said the Foundation appreciated grassroots nature of each individual kitchen as it is tailored to fit the needs of the community.

With help from funding by the Walmart Foundation, students will serve their first meal at the Campus Kitchen at University of Massachusetts Boston, Thursday, February 22. Student volunteers will cook and deliver 100 hot meals to the East Zone Early Learning Center, part of Boston public schools.

Looking forward, the Walmart Foundation’s generous gift spurs the opening of five other campus kitchens in major cities, where the need for hunger relief is often the greatest.

“With the college students, it’s a great fit that they do have a flexible schedule,” said Miccio. “Through college leaders, we want people to be aware that this really is a problem.”

To learn more about the Walmart Foundation, visit their website at www.walmartfoundation.org