Though a native of Oklahoma, I am spending my semester here in Washington as a student at Georgetown University at The Fund for American Studies (TFAS), a program for students to help “instill an appreciation for the American form of government and the free enterprise system.”
Part of my work has me here at Street Sense four days a week, serving as an editorial intern, working with homeless people who are striving to improve their lives here in D.C. In addition, I and some of my classmates recently had the opportunity to volunteer at the DC Central Kitchen, where I gained an additional opportunity to work with people who are seeking to help themselves.
The DC Central Kitchen has been providing 4,000 meals per day for nonprofit organizations in the past 20 years. The people supervising the kitchen and cooking are drawn from the ranks of homeless people who have completed a 12-week life-skills/training program.
The Kitchen’s most popular form of volunteer work is having teens, college students, and other programs such as The Fund for American Studies, help prepare the meals. My colleagues and I wanted to share our experience and express how important is it to serve the community.
Our TFAS Capitol Semester program manager Lily Pascucci took two groups from the program to DCCK in late January and early February. All together there were 33 of us working in the kitchen.
TFAS has been working with the Central Kitchen for a few years now and believes that it is very important for students to not only visit key institutions but to experience them.
Pascucci said that she “enjoys watching the students learn new cooking techniques and working as a team with the other DCCK volunteers and staff members to provide meals for men, women and children in need.”
In addition, Pascucci said she hopes to share the pleasure she herself gets from volunteering.
“There is a certain type of joy that comes from helping others and I know many of the students experience this through working in the DC Central Kitchen,” she said.
Diane Crowe, a public policy track student with TFAS certainly found the day at the Kitchen rewarding.
“It was such a small part of our days, our experience in D.C., and our lives but it really meant something to the people that we helped as a result.”
Crowe’s specific job during the volunteer work was learning how to chop cucumbers and put cheese in the salad. Simple job but someone has to do it.
“I learned that there are really amazing organizations that we can become a part of and give back to the community in a direct way,” Crowe said. She also found a side benefit from pitching in: “proper cucumber-chopping technique.”
Crowe believes that volunteering is an undervalued institution and that more should take the initiative so that we as a society can better ourselves. She also applauds the homeless who are trying to get their lives in order and working themselves at the DC Central Kitchen.
“I think that those who try to better themselves are doing exactly what they need to. I really respect when someone takes the initiative to improve their situation,” added Crowe, who likes doing volunteer work and plans to do much more in the future. Her favorite part of the experience was being with her friends and “finding joy in the small things like putting cheese in a salad.”
Another student, Tricia Ellis, on the journalism public policy track at TFAS, said she had a wonderful experience as well.
“Basically, we got split up and sent to different areas of the kitchen where everybody was making different things. I was in the salad section with Ms. Dot,” said Ellis.
“Ms. Dot happened to have worked for DC Central Kitchen since 1995 and she was tough. She showed everyone how to correctly cut each vegetable then assigned a few people to each one,” added Ellis, who has volunteered at many homeless shelters and other related programs and plans to continue doing so in the future.
“I think that homelessness is a significant issue and that volunteering is extremely important. It is something that everyone should experience in their lives. I really don’t think that asking for a few hours out of someone’s day once in a while is too much to ask for,” Ellis concluded.
As for my personal experience, I made ham and egg croissants with another student from TFAS and had an amazing time. The chef I worked with told stories about his past as a homeless man. He said the DC Central Kitchen helped save his life. He is now in the culinary job training program at the kitchen and spoke of his big plans for his future.
I left the place inspired. Overall, I had an amazing experience helping and I plan on volunteering again very soon.
Alecia is an intern for Street Sense until May 2009 when she will return to Southern Nazerene University.
