Donation to University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s ‘Campus Kitchen Project’ at The Universities at Shady Grove Will Help Students Prepare Meals from Scratch
Rockville, Md. (February 17, 2012) – With more than 10,000 meals served to Montgomery County families in need, University of Maryland Eastern Shore students at the Universities at Shady Grove have Whole Foods Rockville to thank for a boost in production. The enhanced efforts have been made possible as a result of a $5,500 donation that was made this week by Whole Foods Market of Rockville to UMES’s “Campus Kitchens Project.”
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The Campus Kitchen at UMES, on The Universities at Shady Grove campus in Rockville, is part of a national program that operates on 31 campuses across the country. Its purpose is to provide healthy meals to those in need by harnessing the spirit of student volunteerism. Thursday's donation is part of Whole Food’s “5% days,” in which 5% from a local store’s net sales goes to an area nonprofit organization.
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"Involving local business through volunteer, food or financial donation goes to the heart of Campus Kitchens. It's about people working together to take of each other and make their communities stronger," said Mike Curtin, CEO of CKP. "It's humbly gratifying to see an organization like Whole Foods Market select CKP as a partner.”
Campus Kitchens at UMES is embedded in the curriculum of the UMES Hotel and Restaurant Management undergraduate program at USG. Students work to coordinate, prepare and deliver hundreds of meals per month to the Dwelling Place, a transitional home in Gaithersburg, Md. for Montgomery County families experiencing homelessness.
“We are thrilled to have such amazing support from Whole Foods Market Rockville to help us continue to provide healthy family meals for Montgomery County residents through the CKP initiative,” said Susan Callahan, Chef Instructor, UMES Hotel and Restaurant Management at USG. “CKP helps our students develop essential professional hospitality skills for successful careers, while also developing the awareness and focus to be of service to the communities in which they live and do business."
Across the nation, Campus Kitchens share on-campus kitchen space and engage students as volunteers who prepare and deliver meals to those in need. The programs are entirely student run with students planning menus, getting food, running cooking shifts and organizing meal delivery. Since 2001, CKP has engaged more than 45,000 student volunteers in recovering more than one million pounds of donated food and delivering more than one million meals to their communities.
About The Campus Kitchens Project
The Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) is a national organization that uses food as a tool to strengthen bodies, empower minds and build communities. Celebrating 11 years, CKP operates on 31 university and high school campuses. Thanks to the support of the Walmart Foundation, Sodexo, General Mills and the Corporation for National and Community Service, CKP continues to grow. More information on CKP is available atwww.campuskitchens.org.
About Whole Foods Market (WFM)
WFM started with one store in Austin, Texas. Today, it’s the world's leader in natural and organic foods, with more than 310 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. WFM seeks out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintains the strictest quality standards in the industry, and has an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture. WFM talks about its mission in terms of Whole Foods - Whole People - Whole Planet. For more, visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com.
About The Universities at Shady Grove
The Universities at Shady Grove is an innovative model for delivering top-quality college degree programs. USG is not one university; instead it is a collaboration of nine leading public universities in Maryland offering more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Montgomery County. Established in 2000, USG serves more than 4,000 full- and part-time students. www.shadygrove.umd.edu.