What most people don’t necessarily know a lot about is our kid’s programs….We believe it’s important for everybody to eat, but we believe investing in children getting the proper nutrition is really the best investment for those children and for our community. — Vicki Pierce, Executive Director of Community Kitchen
The Community Kitchen’s mission is to work, alone and in collaboration with others, to eliminate hunger in Monroe County and surrounding areas through direct service, education and advocacy. Community Kitchen provides free nutritious meals, nutrition education, referrals to other agencies, and a clean, comfortable social environment for patrons, staff and volunteers.
Community Kitchen has a main facility where people can sit down for a meal and also get meals to go, and a Community Kitchen Express facility at 1100 W 11th St where anyone can get a cold or hot carry-out meal. Both of these facilities operate 4-6p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The Community Kitchen’s Executive Director Vicki Pierce points out that while the Community Kitchen is most recognizable for their dining and Express locations, 50 percent of the meals they serve are to children, through several outreach programs.
The Backpack Buddies program sends schoolchildren, identified by school social workers, home with a backpack of food for the weekend to help meet their families’ nutrition needs. In addition, their Feed Our Future program provides sack lunches and snacks to at-risk youth in after-school programs, such as the Boys & Girls Clubs.
And when school is out, kids don’t have access to the free or reduced price meals they get at school. The Community Kitchen steps in by delivering a free breakfast including grain, fruit and dairy components each Monday through Friday to children in ten low-income neighborhoods.
The Community Kitchen’s new facility, at 1515 S. Rogers Street, will be open August 2011. Read more about the expansion here and here.
Learn More And Get Involved
Community Kitchen is always accepting volunteers.
Monroe County Community Kitchen
Vicki Pierce, Executive Director
Director@MonroeCommunityKitchen
(812) 332-0999
1515 S. Rogers St
Bloomington, IN 47403
