Student volunteers at the Campus Kitchen at Kent State
help prepare meals for needy families.

The Campus Kitchen at Kent State University will compete with 30 other schools across the U.S. in the National Campus Kitchens Project’s second annual online fundraising campaign—March Matchness. The campaign is an avenue to build awareness for the Campus Kitchen, while raising funds to further its goals. The competition also affords each Campus Kitchen chapter the opportunity to show off their school pride and make an impact in their local community.

The National Campus Kitchens Project empowers college students through community service to recycle food from their cafeterias, turn them into nourishing meals, and deliver them to those who need it most in the community. Thirty-one colleges across the U.S. participate in the project. The Campus Kitchen at Kent State University is the only one in the state of Ohio.

“It is important to our mission to be successful in this campaign,” says Ann Gosky, project advisor for the Campus Kitchen at Kent State University. “The monies collected directly help meet the need of the hungry in Portage County. We will use the donations to purchase food that students will make into nutritional meals for clients at Kent Social Services and the Center of Hope. Monies raised will also support costs for hairnets, gloves, plastic wraps and other items that support our mission.”

Each school in the competition will create its own FirstGiving online donation page. Offline donations will not count in this competition.

The first round of the competition will run from March 11-24, after which the final four fundraising schools will compete for the grand prize. The second round of the competition, which also takes into account the number of “likes” on the fundraising page, will take place from March 25 to April 1.

The school that raises the most money will be declared the winner of the competition and will receive a matched prize worth 10 percent of the amount raised up to $1,000. The winning school will also receive a year’s worth of national press and blog coverage for its Campus Kitchen project.

“I got involved with the Campus Kitchen at Kent State because it is a great way to give back while doing something I really enjoyed,” says hospitality management senior Lisa Hofer, who is the student leader of the Campus Kitchen at Kent State. “Winning this competition would be exciting because we are one of the newest Campus Kitchens in the country. We want the Kent State Campus and the Kent community to support us in this noble cause to raise a minimum $2,000 in this campaign by donating and spreading the word.”

The Campus Kitchen at Kent State recently received an Excellence in Operations award at the National Campus Kitchens Project Conference in its first year of operation, and has successfully served 7,000 meals and engaged more than 650 volunteers – averaging 25 volunteers weekly – since it began in 2011.

To support the campaign, visit www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/campuskitchen-ksu/march-matchness-2012?fge=ask to make a donation and to “like” the page.

For more information about the Campus Kitchen at Kent State University, visit www.kent.edu/emsa/service/campus_kitchen.