The Campus Kitchen at UMass Boston Blog

Happy Kitchen Shift Tuesday! At 4:30pm today, some lovely volunteers & I will be putting together the first meals for CKUMB. This is an exciting day! However, today didn’t happen without some challenges getting in the way. I’d like to take the chance to share these with you to prove that no matter how daunting something may appear, you can get through it with a little help from 1. your boss who supports you, 2. a wonderful company who was willing to sacrifice their rigid policies to assist a great cause, and 3. chocolate.

First, a little background: in order to bring a Campus Kitchen to life, a contract must be signed by multiple parties acknowledging each other. Essentially, the contractual language is boring and legal (blah, blah, blah) and states that if someone on my Leadership Team chops off part of a digit, who would be liable in that situation, etc. It’s important. It’s boring. It’s not ready. Because it isn’t ready, we can’t get into the kitchen here on campus quite yet. This begs the question: how will we supply the meals we promised to the Early Learning Center – East?

Panic! I’ve promised the sweetest, most patient and dedicated woman on the planet at ELC-East meals for several families this week. I have to deliver on this! ELC-East is our first community partner and if I pull out during our first week of service, they won’t want to work with us! Cue me panicking; I’ll edit out the actual scenario, but it involved sweating, yelling at strangers, and chugging Diet Coke — I’m not nice under dire circumstances. Through a divine miracle, the Director of The Campus Kitchens Project, Ms. Maureen-the-savior-, steps in. She suggests I decide on a cold meal or a grocery bag with ingredients for a recipe. Initially, I want to make something, so I’m swaying toward sandwiches or something similar. Usually, once I make up my mind, I stick to my choice. I don’t flubber around. No m’am. So, I’m gung-ho sandwiches. Crisis mode over! Until I realize that we 1. don’t have equipment to store cold goods in, 2. don’t have delivery bags to keep our cold food cold during transit, and 3. I don’t have a “budget” for groceries.

Panic! Do I change my mind? Can we order what I need with such short notice? I’m flubbering! Who am I?

Interject — much Diet Coke & chocolate is consumed. Please note that I am on a fit-into-your-wedding-dress diet and will need to run for 1.5 years to work off these calories. Please resume your normal reading. Thank you.

So, I decided to change my mind and put together grocery bags. Decision #2. Still, how do I get the funding for such groceries? Ms. Maureen saves the day again. I call several local warehouses to get denied over and over again until one finally approves of my situation. Despite their no-card, no payment and no member, no help policies, they took me in, gave me a membership, and helped me find everything I need. I did call Maureen one final time while shopping to put together a healthy meal that she suggested.

Relief. Today, I need to find physical bags to put these groceries in, but overall, I’m feeling pretty darn good. We’re going to deliver a delicious & surprisingly healthy recipe (Creamy Chicken Casserole) that makes enough servings for each family to have leftovers. I’m really looking forward to hanging out with the volunteers who are coming to make these bags sparkle & shine. To make today better, my whiteboard was finally hung and I put up our schedule, check it out!

I guess I’ll start running now…