DC Central Kitchen

DC Central Kitchen is the nation’s first and leading community kitchen that recycles food from around Washington, D.C. They create great impact by combating hunger and creating opportunity for the unemployed. They welcome volunteers as "Hungerfighters" in helping to transform wasted food into balanced meals for our community.

Great place to do community service projects for kids 12 and above. My wife , daughter and I spent New Year’s Eve there preparing food for the needy.

Let me begin by saying the smallest amount of effort would go such a long ways. Our nightly meals are usually quite bad. I can only imagine a 3 year old is cooking most meals with the least effort possible. However once every 2 weeks something comes out not as horrible. Come on guys you can very easily create something besides vomit.

The entrance is around the back of the building. My group of 30 volunteers had a wonderful time with the kitchen staff helping prepare meals. It was inspiring and humbling.

For the last 5 years since I moved to DC, I've been volunteering at the DC Central Kitchen. I first did it during holidays and times of unemployment--so as to remember my blessings. The staff is incredible and as a professional person--it is so wonderful to work with my hands, peeling potatoes, cleaning fish or making a vat of vegetable soup with a thousand different ingredients in it. The foreman are respectful and professional and though the work is hard--you leave the kitchen feeling gratified that your labor contributed to the almost 5,000 meals PER DAY prepared for needy families in DC. So volunteer!

The DC Central Kitchen is an amazing place. I have volunteered a few times in the kitchen preparing meals. It is a wonderful experience to work in the kitchen with the DC Central Kitchen staff and program trainees. We got to chop, peel, and package vegetables and other parts of the meal. This is a great place to volunteer with a big group of friends or with your office.

Volunteered here on my birthday last year and I may just do it again! What a great way to spend a bday. The people here are committed to the mission of feeding those in need; they are kind, generous, and pleasant to work with. And the food is so delicious! I enjoyed lunch with the other volunteers at the end of the day.

I eat at the MLk library location and I love it. Great people and great food. If you’re at or near the library, give them a try. The chicken and wild rice soup of the day is delicious!

This amazing organization is not only a leader in sustainability repurposing leftover food, "imperfect" food items, and local farm goods, they are a shining example of a high-functioning social services organization building up the local community. They distribute healthy meals to a number of other organizations around the area including schools, offer job training and life counseling for displaced persons, and are empowering student volunteers across America to implement their own "food recycling" programs, eliminating waste and serving the community. “Please note that DC Central Kitchen cannot be entered from 2nd Street. The entrance to the Central Kitchen is at the back of this building, down the service road off of E Street NW.”

I volunteered yesterday with my company Engility and it was great fun! I learned a few things about food prep. The DC kitchen staff were great and the time flew. I would do it again on my own. it's a great way to learn and work with other people.