Students will soon be able to prepare meals for themselves in a communal kitchen.
Students at Wits University will soon have access to a communal kitchen as part of the Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach (WCCO) expansion of its food programme on the campus
The kitchen, which is expected to open later this year, is a collaboration between Wits and the Co-operative and Policy Alternative Centre (COPAC) which focuses on creating sustainable programmes primarily for the benefit of minority communities.
“The funds raised through the collaboration will contribute to setting up a student communal kitchen where students will use facilities to cook their own food,” ” says the WCCO’s senior programme advisor, Karuna Singh.
The intention behind the kitchen is to allow students who make use of the Wits Food Programme to sign up for days when they can prepare meals. Singh says that the details of how the kitchen will operate are in the process of being finalised.
“The Wits Food Programme has grown substantially, utilising student volunteers to work in the Wits Food Bank, The Masidleni Daily Meal Project and the Wits Food Gardens. The communal kitchen will be a project run by student volunteers. The student kitchen project requires that students self-organise with help from WCCO volunteers and is a way to get students involved in their own meal preparation,” says Singh. The Wits Inala Forum, a student society which manages the food and vegetable gardens on campus that contribute to the food programme for students will also be involved in the kitchen project.
The WCCO began its 2018 fundraising efforts in collaboration with Mike Van Graan, a playwright, who approached COPAC and decided to donate proceeds from three nights of his play, ‘Another One’s Bread’ to the organisation. Additional funds for the projects will be derived from the university’s Development Fundraising Office.
The WCCO is encouraging students to donate via the self-service portal and contribute to the Wits Food Programme through food and monetary donations. WCCO is based in the Sanctuary Building on the east campus.
RELATED STORIES:
Wits Vuvuzela, https://witsvuvuzela.com/2017/02/17/wcco-food-bank-will-make-it-another-year/, February 17, 2017.
