Community
Kitchen
“I learned so much that
will be useful for years
to come. I enjoyed
each and every minute
of helping others while
learning.”
- Texas Second Chance participant
Now in its fifteenth year, NTFB’s Community Kitchen prepared nearly 223,000 meals for local homeless shelters and
soup kitchens. The meals, which include items like beef spaghetti, chicken stew, and pork tenderloin with blackeyed peas, are frozen and transported to Partner Agencies that serve the meals in their facilities.
Texas Second Chance Program
The Community Kitchen meals are prepared by two paid staff members with the help of inmates from Hutchins
State Jail, through the Texas Second Chance Program. The program allows selected prison confinees to volunteer
at NTFB up to five days per week. As volunteer food-service laborers, they receive job-skills training that prepares
them to successfully reintegrate into the community after their release. In addition to their work preparing meals,
inmates also help sort and pack food in the distribution center and assist with set-up, food preparation and clean up
for on-site luncheons and events. Last year, Hutchins inmates contributed a combined 11,000 hours of work within
NTFB’s distribution center and Community Kitchen.