This April, Walsh University officially joined the national network of The Campus Kitchens Project to redistribute and repackage leftover food from the dining halls to local community partners. Walsh will be providing a minimum of 25 pounds of food per week to its local community partner Refuge of Hope in Canton.
Canton Repository, April 17: Walsh Students Launch Campus Kitchen to Feed Stark County Hungry
Canton Repository, April 18: Students Step Up
Students in the Blouin Global Scholars Program hosted a launch party to officially commemorate the start of the new Walsh Campus Kitchens Project on Wednesday, April 15. The celebratory event included remarks by National Campus Kitchen representative Matthew Schnarr, Walsh University President Richard Jusseaume and a special blessing of the project by Walsh Chaplain Rev. Anselm Zupka.
The team of Blouin Global Scholars is under the leadership of Walsh juniors Ashley Lucas, Rachel Civittolo, Teresa Klimek, Melissa Kemper, and Julie Kaminski.
In October 2014, the Br. Francis Blouin Global Scholar student team competed and won one of three launch grants for $5,000 sponsored by the AARP Foundation to bring the Campus Kitchen Project to Walsh. Campus Kitchens is a student volunteer organization that provides free, healthful meals to area senior citizens by using donated food that would otherwise go to waste. Founded in 2001, the Campus Kitchens Project is a national organization that empowers student volunteers to fight hunger in their community. On 39 university and high school campuses across the country, students transform unused food from dining halls, grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers’ markets into meals that are delivered to local agencies serving those in need.
In order to qualify as one of the five finalists for the competition, the students submitted a video explaining why the North Canton/Stark County area would benefit from a Campus Kitchen. Walsh University had only one week, from October 14 to 21, to rally supporters to vote for their video, with the three schools earning the most votes named as the grant recipients. Walsh came in third place with 1,970 votes behind the University of Wisconsin-Madison with 2,542 and the University of Kentucky with 3,434 votes.
Walsh’s Blouin Scholars Program provides students with a unique opportunity to use scholarship and service to address major global issues such as food sustainability in both the local and global community.
About The Campus Kitchens Project
Founded in 2001, The Campus Kitchens Project is a national organization that empowers student volunteers to fight hunger in their communities. On 43 university and high school campuses across the country, students transform unused food from dining halls, grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers’ markets into meals that are delivered to local agencies serving those in need. By taking the initiative to run a community kitchen, students develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills, along with a commitment to serve their communities, that they will carry with them into future careers. Each Campus Kitchen goes beyond meals by using food as a tool to promote poverty solutions, implement garden initiatives, participate in nutrition education, and convene food policy events. To learn more, visit www.campuskitchens.org.