Willy Street Co-op supports FEED

Willy Street Co-op turned up the grills on Saturday, June 15 and Saturday, June 22 in a benefit event for FEED Kitchens.  

The cookouts, which took place at the east and then the west Willy Street locations, were part of the Grilling for Good events that the Co-op hosts from May through September to benefit local organizations and projects.

On June 15, Willy Street Co-op East served about 125 attendees, according to Willy Street Co-op EventA Madison family enjoys hot dogs outside of Willy Street Co-op. Coordinator Jack Kear.  The June 22 event had a strong turnout at at Willy Street Co-op West despite a morning rain storm.

The Co-op will know the exact amount of proceeds that will benefit FEED Kitchens in a few weeks, according to Northside Planning Council Board of Directors member Terrie Anderson.  She said that the Co-op recently donated $30,000 to FEED Kitchens and has been very supportive of the project.

FEED Kitchens is a food business incubator that will make commercial kitchen space available, for rent, to food entrepreneurs and businesses.  Each kitchen includes specialized equipment for the kitchen’s intended purpose like baking or processing. 

As to why Willy Street Co-op selected FEED Kitchens to benefit from this month’s Grilling for Good events Kear said, “They have been a group that is very much in line with our own mission, why would we not want to support that?”

In addition to raising funds for FEED Kitchens, Willy Street Co-op will be supporting the 100-plus people on the waiting list to use one of FEED Kitchens five commercial kitchens, now scheduled to open sometime in October, according to Anderson.

Originally scheduled to open in September, FEED Kitchens experienced construction delays due to a dry cleaner that contaminated the soil on site.  The dry cleaner is no longer in the area, but the contamination turned out to be more extensive than originally thought.  

The delay will ultimately set the project back one month so far, according to Anderson.

FEED Kitchens will not be the only beneficiary of this summer’s Grilling for Good events. Willy Street Co-op plans to support the Workers’ Rights Center of Madison in the August event.