LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The last thing anyone wants to do is waste food, especially knowing how many people struggle with hunger every day.
The fight against it is ongoing, including at the University of Kentucky through the Campus Kitchen.
“The goal is to reduce food waste and then address any of those food and nutrition inequities, inequalities and food waste issues and then empowering the community in different ways,” UK Dietetics and Human Nutrition director of community outreach Kendra OoNorasak said.
OoNorasak actually helped found the Campus Kitchen as a student in 2014.
It’s comprised of student volunteers who take leftover food from the college’s dining services and repurpose it into full meals for people in need.
Completely student-run, driven by the dedication of shift captains like UK junior Shelby Turney.
“I love it. This is my fifth semester doing this. I do this once a week as a shift captain, but we have about three shifts every day Monday-Friday,” Turney said.
“It’s really creative. It’s not a set menu every day when you walk in. I have no idea what’s going to be in the fridge. It’s on the spot trying to figure out what you can put together that’s nutritious and still tastes good.”
The kitchen has grown substantially since its inception about a decade ago.
OoNorasak recalled struggling to get a couple dozen meals out the door in a week compared to the hundreds being assembled today.
The program became successful enough to be asked to join a new initiative to expand its community reach.
It’s called Meals on Wings.
The program was launched by the University of North Florida and aims to recover and repurpose leftover food from area hospitals.
Building onto the work the Campus Kitchen is already doing.
“Serving to older adults specifically who are in lower income housing or who may or may not be eligible for Meals on Wheels which is a federal meal assistance program for older adults,” OoNorasak said.
The Campus Kitchen signed on with Meals on Wings over the summer, helping these hardworking volunteers expand their reach to those who need it most.
It’s opened up a greater opportunity to keep these students involved.
“A lot of our volunteers come back every week, so it’s nice to build those relationships with people,” Turney said. “A lot of them love it so much they apply to be shift captains the next semester. It's really nice to build those friendships through it.”
Click here if you want to see more of what the Campus Kitchen is doing.
