[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 86 (Thursday, May 18, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H4318-H4319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                DC CENTRAL KITCHEN HELPS THE UNDERSERVED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, I had 
the privilege of visiting the DC Central Kitchen, which is a nonprofit 
that fights hunger and poverty here in the Nation's Capital. But it 
fights hunger differently. Yes, DC Central Kitchen feeds people who are 
hungry. It also offers the training, empowerment, and career 
opportunities that allow people to finally be free from hunger and 
poverty.
  As chairman of the Subcommittee on Nutrition of the Committee on 
Agriculture, this visit was especially important to me, and I am 
grateful that I could volunteer and tour the site with my colleague and 
subcommittee ranking member, Congressman Jim McGovern.
  DC Central Kitchen is located in the basement of one of the Nation's 
largest homeless shelters. It focuses its services on addressing the 
deeper issues that have plagued generations: hunger, homelessness, 
incarceration, and, ultimately, poverty.
  CEO Michael Curtin made it very clear that DC Central Kitchen isn't 
merely offering handouts to those in need. He said, ``You can't feed 
your way out of poverty,'' and I wholeheartedly agree with him. DC 
Central Kitchen puts as much emphasis on training those who come 
through its doors to prepare them to earn living wages as it does to 
provide meals to Washington's marginalized citizens.

[[Page H4319]]

  People who receive services there truly do have a chance to escape 
poverty. They find employment right at DC Central Kitchen or in 
Washington's hospitality industry. DC Central Kitchen is helping people 
find jobs that pay living wages and obtain lasting careers.
  In 1989, a nightclub manager named Robert Egger founded DC Central 
Kitchen. He was frustrated with his volunteer experiences at 
traditional charitable responses to help end hunger and homelessness. 
His idea was to create a ``central kitchen'' where wasted food could be 
turned into balanced meals for shelters and nonprofits and jobless 
adults could be trained in the culinary arts.
  Of course, the critics said it couldn't be done. It was unwise. It 
was unsustainable. The concept was just not possible, they said. Well, 
they were wrong. And Robert was ahead of the curve and ahead of his 
time.
  DC Central Kitchen's successes have been celebrated nationally. Its 
story has been featured in outlets ranging from National Geographic to 
The Washington Post to The Chronicle of Philanthropy and many more 
places. It works every day to transform food that would otherwise be 
wasted into nutritious meals for homeless shelters and nonprofits. It 
serves farm-to-school menus to low-income schoolchildren, all while 
creating job opportunities for unemployed adults who have completed its 
culinary job training program.
  The numbers are clear. Last year, 91 individuals graduated from the 
program; 88 percent of them found good-paying jobs. Fifty percent of 
last year's graduates received a wage increase within 12 months of 
being on that job.
  DC Central Kitchen has also expanded access to healthy foods by 
making them available at corner stores in D.C.'s food deserts. Last 
year alone, it supported store owners in selling more than 207,000 
units of affordable, healthy snacks and produce.
  Mr. Speaker, DC Central Kitchen is a shining example of what can be 
done to truly help the underserved in our communities all across this 
Nation. By giving individuals career training and job skills, it allows 
them to break the back of intergenerational poverty that has hindered 
the lives of so many.
  No one in America should go hungry. Everyone deserves a shot at 
living a full, healthy, and productive life. DC Central Kitchen shows 
us this is possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I offer my congratulations to the staff, to the 
volunteers, to the students, and to all those who had this vision with 
DC Central Kitchen.

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