McKinney, Texas (December 12, 2019) – On Sunday, December 6, McKinney Mayor George Fuller, with wife, Maylee Thomas Fuller, Bishop Sumner of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, board members of the Episcopal Foundation of Dallas and others took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the first kitchen in the county dedicated to serving prepared meals to people in need. Community Garden Kitchen of Collin County (CGK), a 501(c)3 nonprofit, will be located in east McKinney, at 500 Throckmorton Street, McKinney, sharing the property with Holy Family Pre-School.
Once built, the approximately 4,500-square-foot facility will feed anyone in need of a meal, no questions asked, or paperwork required. Volunteers will serve those in need, in a restaurant style atmosphere, in hopes that all who come, will feel they are dining with dignity.
Bishop Sumner and board members of the Episcopal Foundation of Dallas presented a $60,000 check to Angela Poen, CGK president. Raj and Lori Bhargava, and employees of Manner Polymers presented a gift of $100,000. Both gifts will go toward the capital campaign for construction.
Once approval of the plans is awarded by the city, construction will begin. Poen explained that while she’s hopeful that the exterior of the building will be complete by this spring, future fundraising is still needed to complete the interior of the building. Kitchen equipment, furniture, and fixtures still need to be purchased.
Mayor George Fuller, and Maylee Thomas Fuller talked about the need for the new kitchen and how it will be a positive impact on the community. Their Love Life Foundation has generously supported this effort.
More than 200 guests attended the groundbreaking ceremony, and guests helped prepare 300 sack lunches with food donated by Market Street. The sack lunches were donated to The Samaritan Inn shelter in McKinney. Rick Wells, a continual supporter of CGK, and his team at Harvest restaurant and Rick’s Chophouse were on site and generously provided food and refreshments for guests and volunteers.
According to a study done in 2018 by Feeding America, there are approximately 138,000 food insecure people in Collin County, which is 16 percent of the population. Of those food insecure people, 48,000 are children. That means 20 percent of children in Collin County are food insecure.
To learn more about Community Garden Kitchen visit www.communitygardenkitchen.org.