Ribbon Cutting Celebrates New Format at Kansas City Community Kitchen
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – February 3, 2016 – (RealEstateRama) — Episcopal Community Services (ECS) and the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a ribbon cutting at the Kansas City Community Kitchen (KCCK), 750 Paseo Blvd on Friday, February 5, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. The ribbon cutting signifies their relaunch with a new focus on “dining with dignity,” highlighted by a restaurant style service for lunch each weekday from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
“This new service represents what we’re about now,” said ECS President/CEO Beau Heyen. “Our diners will not only get delicious, beautiful meals created by our amazing culinary team, but they will have the dignity of being able to choose what they want to eat.” KCCK has evolved from the antiquated “soup kitchen” model into a restaurant-like atmosphere, where volunteers serve as hosts and waitstaff each weekday.
In addition to giving diners a choice about what they eat, menus are varied to incorporate various fresh foods and suggestions made by the diners themselves, although often made into healthier versions. “Last week we had guests asking us when we were going to do some barbecue,” says Executive Chef Michael Curry, “so when we prepared our chicken a couple of days later, we decided to make it into pulled chicken sandwiches with our house-made sauce that doesn’t have as much sugar and salt.”
KCCK isn’t the only program that ECS is improving and relaunching this year. Next week will see the first class of the newly expanded Culinary Cornerstones Training Program. Students are referred from partnering agencies around the KC metro, often un- and under-employed. Formerly a 12-week program, the new certification will be 6 months long, including classroom and kitchen hours, covering everything from cooking skills to financial literacy, and an internship and apprenticeship. “We want to be the place that Kansas City restaurants call when they need good help in their kitchens,” Curry said. “Everyone has a right to be nourished and sustained, and we’ll do that with both food and learning.”
For more information about the Kansas City Community Kitchen and other ECS programs, please contact the office at 816-561-8920 or visit the website at episcopalcommunity.org. To volunteer serving lunch at KCCK or donate towards these meals, contact Mandy Caruso-Yahne, Director of Community Engagement, at 816-561-8920 or email 
About Episcopal Community Services: Episcopal Community Service is a nonprofit dedicated to fighting hunger in the Greater Kansas City area, both in providing healthy food and in empowering the poor to move beyond the barriers of poverty with dignity. In operation for more than 25 years, ECS operates several food programs including the Kansas City Community Kitchen at 8th/Paseo, a network of emergency food pantries and church meal programs, food rescue and the Culinary Cornerstones Training Program. Our aim is to feed anyone in need and change lives in the process by working with partner agencies and giving our volunteers opportunities to build community. Learn more at http://episcopalcommunity.org
