For 15 years, The Campus Kitchen at Wake Forest University (CKWFU) has repurposed food that would have otherwise gone to waste back into the Winston-Salem community. By partnering with a network of civic, non-profit, and private organizations the Kitchen has helped develop innovative solutions to reduce food insecurity in our community.
How It All Began
Officially chartered in 2006, Wake Forest students were fighting to reduce food insecurity in the Winston-Salem community long before. In 1999, Karen Borchert ('00) and Jessica Jackson ('00) founded Homerun, a student-run program that provided a weekly food delivery service for those in need. Borchert went on to start the national program, "The Campus Kitchens Project".
Officially opening its doors in 2006, the Campus Kitchen at Wake Forest has continued to grow every year since. The delivery service that Borchert and Jackson began in 1999 now consists of nearly 20 weekly shifts where students cook and deliver hot meals, and sort and redistribute produce across the greater Winston-Salem area.
Since 2006, the Campus Kitchen at Wake Forest University has recovered 566,377 pounds of food, served 137,937 meals to the Winston-Salem community, engaged 13,154 volunteers for 44,256 hours of service, and partnered with 29 local organizations.
A New Home for Campus Kitchen
First housed at the food court in the Information Systems Building, now Alumni Hall, the Kitchen moved to the Benson University Center in 2010 and finally relocated to its lounge in Kitchin Residence Hall in 2014. On September 19, 2014 the move was marked with a grand opening ceremony and celebration. The new lounge provided the space needed to continue its operations at a larger scale and included an oven, two refrigerators, an open cooking space, and lounge space for students to conduct programming.
Since the dedication of the lounge in 2014, Campus Kitchen has expanded to the industrial, commercial kitchen located at the First Assembly School after Wake Forest acquired the property in 2019.
Connecting with the Community
The Campus Kitchen would not be possible without the generosity of its donors. Each week, students travel throughout town to local stores - including The Fresh Market, Lowes Foods, and Food Lion - and the Cobblestone Farmers Market to gather excess, bruised, or otherwise unsold produce or food items to redistribute to food-insecure community members.
On-campus, the Kitchen partners with the Harvest Table Culinary Group to collect food that is prepared for the dining halls and catered events, but never served. Trays of food are brought back to the kitchen, and repackaged for individual meals before making their way into the community. Each month, Campus Kitchen rescues an average of 600 pounds of food through Harvest Table. In addition, the Campus Garden - run and operated by the Office of Sustainability - grows most of its produce to be delivered to the Campus Kitchen to be used for meal preparation. In turn, any food waste is returned to the Garden for composting.
Over the span of 15 years, the Kitchen has partnered with 29 local agencies to help disperse food and meals into the community. Its longest-running partnerships include both Azalea Terrace and Potter's House, which have been receiving meals since 2006. Currently, the Kitchen also delivers meals to Anthony's Plot, City with Dwellings, Faith Health NC, Latino Community Services, Parenting Path, Samaritan Ministries, and The Shalom Project.
"We are so grateful to the Campus Kitchen for their leadership in food rescue in our community. Students bring food to Samaritan Ministries seven days a week...Without their help, food would otherwise go to waste, but now we can use it in our community soup kitchen to provide nutritious fruit, vegetables, and other food to our guests who count on us to survive."
- Jan Kelly, Executive Director at Samaritan Ministries
An Annual Tradition: Turkeypalooza
Each November, Campus Kitchen celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday with Turkeypalooza. Volunteers come together to make nearly 400 scratch-made Thanksgiving meals and work alongside community partners to distribute them to families in need for the holiday. Although the menu varies from year to year, mainstays include turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin cookies, all made by Wake Forest students, faculty, and staff.
Since the first Turkeypalooza in 2006, over 500 whole turkeys have been roasted, 1,200 pounds of sweet potatoes have been mashed; 400 dozen pumpkin cookies have been baked and over 200 pounds of cranberries have been boiled down to make sauce.
Giving Kids a Place in the Kitchen
Launched in 2018 under Campus Kitchen, The Kids' Cooking Coalition (KCC) is a community-based initiative designed by Margaret Savoca, Ph.D. The program brings together college students, local children, and community members in a shared effort to equip the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and ability necessary to take control of their food future.
Wake Forest students play a vital role in the program, volunteering for six weeks each spring - teaching children how to prepare and cook their own food. Since its inception, 47 WFU students have volunteered their time and 135 local children have benefited from the Coalition as they establish life-long skills of being able to prepare healthy foods.
Celebrating the Past, Present, and Future
For the past 15 years, the Campus Kitchen has made a remarkable impact on both the Wake Forest and Winston-Salem communities. The Kitchen is looking forward to maintaining its commitment to serve in the spirit of its mission and the University's motto of Pro Humanitate for years to come.
If you would like to contribute to the continued success of the Campus Kitchen at Wake Forest, you can support its mission by making a gift.