D.C. Central Kitchen: 20 years and still evolving

WASHINGTON - Rewind 20 years. D.C. Central Kitchen gets its start by redistributing excess food from the presidential inauguration. Fast forward to today. The local charity is still evolving.

D.C. Central Kitchen makes 4,000 meals a day. Seven days a week the kitchen prepares food for local shelters, halfway houses, drug programs, senior programs and children's programs in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

"We never go one day without thinking how can we do it stronger faster better," says D.C. Central Kitchen founder Robert Egger.

Local restaurants and hotels help the effort by donating food. Local farmers are supported by supplying tons of food purchased by D.C. Central Kitchen. Unemployed and homeless locals train in the kitchen for careers in the food service industry. D.C. Central Kitchen's Culinary Arts Job Training program just graduated its 75th class.

Egger says the Kitchen was born out of frustration. He had a volunteer experience where his suggestions to improve the effort were ignored. Those suggestions involved getting free food and serving it more efficiently.

"There was such a resistance...it became very apparent to me no one was going to do this. And I knew I could."

Egger says he intended to start the kitchen and go back to running nightclubs. But he's been orchestrating D.C. Central Kitchen activities for 20 years now.

"I never ever wanted to become the kind of person I first met who said, 'No. We can't do it that way.' Who didn't see even the remotest spector of something really beautiful happening and wasn't willing to take a risk. And, I never wanted to be that person."

D.C. Central Kitchen's latest effort is the V3 Campaign. The Voice Value Vote campaign is an effort to get elected leaders to recognize how much non-profit and social organizations contribute to society.

Egger says through V3 he hopes others who volunteer and take an active role in social issues stand together and make an impact on society.

If you're looking to volunteer, D.C. Central Kitchen has a number of opportunities for you.

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