Community Youth Initiative

OBKLA_MF_All-Sage_RG_logoB
Amount:
$300,000
Year:
2022
Field of Interest:
Program Name:
Community Youth Initiative
Grant Type:
Cutting Edge
Grant Website
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ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION

Founded in 2020, Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles (OBKLA) operates a community-run, industrial kosher kitchen (located in the Pico-Robertson area) that engages volunteers to prepare and distribute restaurant-quality meals to individuals and families (Jewish and non-Jewish) experiencing food insecurity in Los Angeles County. It partners with local schools and community-based organizations to provide the Jewish community (ages 5-85) with meaningful volunteer and community building experiences in the kitchen. Each year, OBKLA engages thousands of Jewish community members from local organizations to prepared and distributed meals to over Angelenos experiencing food insecurity.

GRANT PURPOSE

To scale the Community Youth Initiative, which will engage thousands of Jewish middle school, high school, and vulnerable youth in consistent volunteer opportunities in an industrial kosher kitchen that provides meals for individuals experiencing food insecurity in LA. The program seeks to build community, reduce feelings of isolation, and connect youth with their Jewish identity through meaningful and purposeful group volunteer opportunities.Founded in 2020, Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles (OBKLA) operates a community-run, industrial kosher kitchen (located in the Pico-Robertson area) that engages volunteers to prepare and distribute restaurant-quality meals to individuals and families (Jewish and non-Jewish) experiencing food insecurity in Los Angeles County. It partners with local schools and community-based organizations to provide the Jewish community (ages 5-85) with meaningful volunteer and community building experiences in the kitchen. Each year, OBKLA engages thousands of Jewish community members from local organizations to prepared and distributed meals to over Angelenos experiencing food insecurity.

"We are very honored to have been selected by the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. This grant will enable us to host thousands of middle and high-school students and young adults at Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles (OBKLA) in the coming years, providing them with meaningful volunteering opportunities in a structured yet dynamic environment. The team effort it takes to make the meals is transformative for our students as they get to experience hands-on charity alongside their peers and teachers. It is incredibly satisfying for our volunteers to know that because they shared 2 hours of that day, over 350 people got to get a hearty healthy meal that night.”

Yossi Segelman
Executive Director, Our Big Kitchen LA