UNK student creates lasting relationships with Campus Kitchen |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Oct 01 2008 at 1:39 PM |
Photo by Sara Quisenberry
UNK junior Lindsey Wendt finds a sense of satisfaction in volunteering with Campus Kitchen to help those who need it in Kearney. Campus Kitchen delivers about 100 meals twice a week.
By Sara Quisenberry
Guest Writer
There are many organizations on campus willing to lend a helping hand to the community of Kearney. One such organization is Campus Kitchen.
Campus Kitchen is made up of students at UNK willing to take time out of their busy lifestyles to cook and prepare food for those less fortunate in Kearney.
Lindsey Wendt, a junior organizational communications major from Gering, Neb., has been a member of Campus Kitchen since her freshman year. Wendt helps deliver the food around the city and has recently joined the leadership team for the organization.
"Working with Campus Kitchen is very rewarding in the sense that it helps you grow as a person by seeing the suffering that goes on, even in a town the size of Kearney. I think it also helps you mature and realize that many people have problems that instead of ignoring, you can do something to make a difference," Wendt said.
Twice a week students gather to prepare food donated from Chartwell's, Farmer's Market and restaurants from around the community.
After the cooking sessions take place on Monday and Wednesday evenings, more volunteer students then transport the food around the community on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
Citizens of Kearney who receive the food are those that are recommended to the organization by social services or people who have expressed a need for help with food.
Wendt stressed the relationships that form over the course of volunteering for Campus Kitchen. Not only do friendships form with other students, but the students also bond with the residents they deliver food to.
"One time, an older man we delivered food to regularly celebrated his 95th birthday and invited us to his birthday celebration. It was a lot of fun to go and see him, and you could just tell it made him feel good that we showed up, not because we had to but because we wanted to," Wendt said with a smile.
