More Than a Kitchen Sale
Kaitlyn Peine
Community Health and Wellness
Extension Agent
On April 22, 2023 the Community Health and Wellness Program in tandem with the Extension Master Food Volunteers hosted the Kitchen Sale for the first time since 2019. Bargain seekers from college students to seniors shopped our Kitchen Sale. The sale would not have been possible without the gracious donations of gently used kitchen equipment and the patronage of the shoppers.
In February we started soliciting and accepting donations of gently used kitchen equipment. The community response to our ask for donations was outstanding. Thank you to the K-State Research and Extension Team who graciously gave up precious office space to store our donated inventory. We received a plethora of great items to not only have inventory for our sale, but also make contributions to our community partners serving limited income families and individuals.
The Kitchen Sale is an opportunity for community members to donate kitchen appliances, dinnerware, utensils, cookbooks, and other kitchen treasures. The sale offered a variety of kitchen items ranging in price from multiple items for a $1 to $10 for larger like new appliances. Customers of the sale were sure to find gadgets of all sizes to add to their home kitchens.
The sale is a fundraiser for the Extension Master Food Volunteer program. This year’s sale profits totaled $849. According to our records, this is the highest grossing Kitchen Sale. The money raised will be used for volunteer training and will fund the organizations community outreach efforts.
Volunteers are at the heart of almost every Extension event and the Kitchen Sale was no exception. The Extension Master Food Volunteers
and the Community Health and Wellness Program staff planned and hosted the sale. Over 100 volunteer hours were contributed to the Kitchen Sale. Volunteers organized, staged, and priced kitchen items. The Extension Master Food Volunteers set up, hosted, and cleaned up from the sale. Many of our volunteers are new to our program and jumped in with both feet to contribute to the success of the sale.
While the Kitchen Sale event was our primary public facing event, our efforts were also focused on helping our limited income neighbors. Anyone who participated in a SNAP-Ed program hosted by the K-K-State Research and Extension’s SNAP-Ed team within the past two years received a $20 voucher and were offered early shopping the morning of the sale. We redeemed $220 in vouchers for the Kitchen Sale.
The Douglas County SNAP-Ed team assembled and donated 14 kitchen kits to Family Promise that will be gifted to their clients as needs arise. Kitchen items were also donated to Edge Fest a community outreach event at Edgewood Homes in Lawrence. The leftover items were donated to City Thrift. Between our donations to community partners and vouchers to SNAP-Ed participants, over $800 worth of kitchen items were donated.
The Extension Master Food Volunteer Kitchen Sale Committee is already making plans for the 2024 Kitchen Sale. In early 2024, the committee will announce plans for accepting donations and the date of the sale. It’s safe to plan on an even bigger and better Kitchen Sale in 2024.
