In the Fall of 2006 with the help of the Marketing Club members, Campus Kitchen Volunteers picked approximately 9 apple trees and one pear tree for a total of over 2,000 pounds of fresh fruit to deliver to Campus Kitchen clients!
On November 2, 22 volunteers peeled, chopped, cut, cored, and sliced over half of the apples picked to be turned into applesauce and apple bake! The Salvation Army Men’s Shelter graciously donated their kitchen space to allow Campus Kitchen to create the applesauce and apple bake! Thank you to all involved in Project Apple and making it a success!
The Campus Kitchen Project at Minnesota State won the national award for Excellence in Programming in Washington D.C. on October 7. The Minnesota State Program was one of two programs in the nation to be recognized as an award-winning program by the National Campus Kitchens Project. "Mankato's success is evident, both through the sheer numbers of involved students, academic departments, and community members, as well as through the programmatic impact that this Campus Kitchen has made in just its first year. Mankato is leading our national network in the development of dynamic, community-specific programming for Campus Kitchen volunteers, notes Karen Borchert, National Director of the Campus Kitchens Project."
This national recognition was awarded just one week before the Campus Kitchen at Minnesota State was honored with a "20 in 20 Award" from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. The program was given a $5000 award for commitment to community and regional economic development in southern Minnesota at an awards luncheon in Owatonna on Wednesday, October 10.
Each year, one week before Thanksgiving, National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness co-sponsor National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. During this week, a number of schools, communities and cities take part in a nationwide effort to bring greater awareness to the problems of hunger and homelessness. (National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week website)
This year, Campus Kitchen Mankato sponsored Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week at Minnesota State Mankato. Events included Bowling for Beans, Cans 4 a Cause, Jail N Bail, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Fair, Dinning for Dollars, Hunger Fact T-shirt Day, Campus Kitchen Anniversary Party, plus many more events! The entire week was a huge success and we look forward to continue the tradition next year!
A member of the College of Business Management class received a donation of two pigs from a local farmer to help feed Campus Kitchen Mankato clients! Cassandra, who secured the pig donation, was also able to receive a reduced cost on the fees at Vernon Center! However, she is not done yet! Cassandra already secured another pig donation for next semester! She is also going to be completing an internship with Campus Kitchen to continue the project Farmers Feeding Families to support local farmers in the efforts to continue feeding the Mankato Community with local grown products!
