Sproul, a 2005 graduate of Gonzaga College High School in Northwest Washington, runs the school’s Campus Kitchens Project. Students at 20 schools nationwide recover unused food from cafeterias and local farms to prepare meals for donation. Gonzaga is the only high school in the program, which also includes students at Johns Hopkins University.
How did you get involved in the program?
I’m part of the Alumni Service Corps, which is recent graduates of Gonzaga who come back as substitute teachers and fill in roles where the school needs it after graduating from college. It’s really a year of service for Gonzaga.
How many students volunteer?
We get four to six volunteers every day. Each student serves a volunteer shift with us, for two hours on two days. Monday and Thursday are the days we prepare the food. We prepare about 60 meals to take out to the lower-income housing in the Gonzaga neighborhood. Then on Tuesday and Friday, the students who help prepare it also deliver the meals.
Who donates the food?
Currently the only place we’re getting it from is the Sodexo catering company. Jeff Cooper is the head of the kitchen in a building that includes a law firm and a restaurant called Rosa Mexicano. Cooper runs a kitchen for Sodexo, and they provide all the meals for the cafeteria and the law firm. He’s our main donor.
Where are the meals donated?
The majority of the meals go to Sibley Plaza, about two blocks north of North Capitol [Street]. It’s actually an apartment building run by the D.C. Housing Authority. The rest of the meals go over to Golden Rule II Apartments at the corner of New Jersey and First Street.
– Ben Giles
