When the Community Kitchen started operating in 2019 it was run entirely by volunteers. In those days, we were preparing about 200 meals a week and operated with a team of about 6 helpers.
We now prepare up to 5000 meals a week and operate a busy food bank. Up to 100 volunteers are involved each week in cooking, portioning and distribution, and the collection of unsold produce.
Such a large operation cannot be run by unpaid volunteers alone. So, since January 2023, we have employed Akkara as our full-time kitchen manager. Aline joined us this summer as our part-time operations manager.
Akkara trained as a “chef cuisine de collectivité”, and brings her skills to running our busy kitchen and cooking meals for up to 600, 5 days a week, without breaking a sweat!
Aline has a background in business administration, experience of working in the food sector and in the social sector. She overseas all aspects of the Community Kitchen’s operations and looks after our volunteers. She also works part time for Fedasil, the Belgian Refugee agency. So she is well acquainted with the issues facing the people we feed and many of our volunteers.
Aline and Akkara are supported by a team of regular volunteers at Community Kitchen as well as the hundreds of occasional volunteers who access the project through the ServeNow app.
If you want to join the project, please get in touch and Aline will get back to you!
