We are seeking administrative support in launching the Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) here at UC Santa Cruz to turn food surplus into nutritious meals to feed the hungry. If implemented, our school will be the first in the entire state of California to execute CKP. In order for this project to be successfully implemented, we need the administration to permit us to share a kitchen space to prepare meals and provide job-training. According to a study conducting by the College Eight Waste Reduction Team, there is an estimated 76,650 pounds of food waste being produced annually during lunch hours alone at the UCSC dining halls. Meanwhile, more than 27,000 residents of Santa Cruz County are currently living below the poverty line. The Campus Kitchen Project is a groundbreaking program that brings colleges together with student volunteers, on-campus dining services professionals, and community organizations to combat hunger in cities across the United States. Students at Campus Kitchens work out of university kitchens after regular service hours, where they prepare meals using unserved food collected from campus dining facilities under the guidance of certified student food handlers. Students work in shifts involving food pick-up, cooking, and delivery. Each week, students at the Campus Kitchen distribute the meals they have prepared; anywhere from 300 to 800 meals per week go to service agencies in the community that provide tutoring to children, shelter to houseless individuals, and drug rehabilitation and counseling services, in addition to low-income families, children, and homebound seniors in the community. If you are interested in supporting the implementation of the Campus Kitchens Project, please sign below. Thank you for your support!

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