Dessert Corps

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve” -Dr. Martin Luther King “Cookies are made of butter and love” -Norwegian Proverb

Although Dr. King is most often remembered as a civil rights leader who fought the oppressive racial divisions and prejudices in the United States, he had more than one dream; King was dedicated to slashing poverty and eradicating hunger as evidenced in his Poor People’s Campaign. According to King, “There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will.”

President Obama has vowed to end domestic child hunger by 2015–a sign that there may be increased government support for ending hunger in our time. As citizens, it is our job to push the new administration to keep its promise to low-income Americans so that Dr King’s dream of ending hunger can finally become a reality. Let’s think of it as our collective resolution for 2009.

To this end, President Obama is asking all Americans to find that great part inside of them by serving on the Martin Luther King day and by making an ongoing commitment throughout the year. At Craig’s Kitchen, we are calling out to all our neighbors to help make life a little sweeter in the soup kitchen, not just this week, but throughout the year, by joining our Dessert Corps.

Although it is the goal at the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen to always provide a home cooked meal, it is not always quite possible; The physical kitchen is too small to provide a hearty meal AND homemade desserts. Since a healthy meal is the main concentration, desserts don’t always get the focus they deserve. Not surprisingly, dessert is one of the favorite parts of the weekly meal. People accept any sweet–be it a couple of cookies from the dollar store or a homemade treat– with a big smile. Before people head back out into the world, it is nice to put a smile on the face and something decadently sweet in the stomach. There have been valiant attempts by various people in the ‘hood to bake cookies and other desserts at home but trust us when we say that it is damn hard for one person to bake up enough to feed 100 people.

Emily gets an honorary baking degree for all the pies, crumbles and special desserts that she baked all summer long for the kitchen!

It is our goal with the dessert corps to ensure that every dessert served from the kitchen is a homemade treat made by someone from the community. A small way to connect our home kitchens to solving the hunger problems of the world.

To this end, we are searching out 10 weekly volunteers to cook up a sweet treat that serves 10. Each week there will be a theme/recipe. You can do it once, do it weekly, do it monthly, or do it whenever you feel like baking. Eventually we will have an online calendar system for sign ups.

Until then, please email craigskitchen [at] gmail.com with the subject line Dessert Corps Volunteer in order to get involved.

During the CSA season (June to October) the desserts will center around the fresh, local fruit which is donated to the soup kitchen from neighborhood CSAs. During that time, we will be able to supply the fruit to the bakers. We will also keep our eyes peeled for deals on butter and other baking supplies. Also, we are collecting and reusing the aluminum baking tins and can distribute them to volunteers.

The desserts can be dropped of at the soup kitchen from 4pm-6ish on Wednesdays. There is also a Williamsburg drop off location on Tuesday nights and a Greenpoint drop off location on Tuesday nights or Wednesday before 4pm. If none of that works, special arrangements can be made.

Check the main blog for baking themes. Email us if there is a week you’d like to participate.

Drop us a line at craigskitchen [at] gmail [dot] com if you have any questions or ideas.