KU Chabad recently initiated Open Kitchen Night, which provides students at the University of Kansas with a homemade dinner of soup, a main meat dish and multiple sides.
These meals, offered every Wednesday, are free, courtesy of Chabad’s safety net program, reJOYvination. For many students who observe some of the kosher dietary laws, this becomes their kosher dinner of the week.
The program was inspired by a 2016 Students Against Hunger survey that found that 22% of surveyed students had “very low food security” in the previous 30 days.
Open Kitchen Night grew from a simple idea for a weekly event attended by dozens of students. Designed by KU Chabad Co-Directors Rabbi Zalman and Nechama Tiechtel, the Open Kitchen initiative aims to bring students together to give each other support and to help deal with the stresses of college life. By creating a locale for kosher food and a space to de-stress, Open Kitchen Night acts as more than a dining option. While some students follow a kosher lifestyle and use KU Chabad as a primary source of food, many use the space to connect with like-minded students, play board games, and meet with fellow Jews.
“Chabad isn’t just a place to get a free meal. It's a chance to connect with fellow students, feel more connected to my Judaism and step back from some of the pressures of college life,” said Sophia Engman, a KU junior from Chicago, Illinois, who regularly attends weekly dinners.
“By focusing on how this weekly dinner can bring students together in a low pressure, no stress environment, we’ve seen students feel better supported and deepen their connection to their own Jewish community,” Rabbi Tiechtel said. “The Open Kitchen Night is less about free food and more about letting students know they are part of something greater than themselves and [are] part of a large Jewish family on campus [that] really cares about them and their wellbeing.”
Open Kitchen Night is offered in addition to KU Chabad’s Shabbat services and on-campus lunches. It is part of KU Chabad’s Mental Health Signature Program, which provides an array of support and safety net services to KU students. This effort is supported by various donors and a generous partnership with Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.
