Our Shared Kitchen Providing Healthy and Delicious Meals For Those Facing Food Insecurity & Homelessness

(Austin, TX) – On a cloudy Saturday morning President of Our Shared Kitchen, Ariane Vinograd prepares for another day of cooking to provide delicious and healthy meals for her community facing food insecurity and homelessness. Vinograd, a former attorney, found her calling to help her community when she moved back to Austin from the East Coast.

The food on the menu is made from scratch, and it changes depending on what Vinograd has available. She does take requests and encourages for individuals to let her know if they’ve liked the food she’s made. “If someone does not enjoy the food that we’re preparing, we are not doing our job properly,” she says. She wants the food to taste good that way the food is enjoyed, but most importantly, that it’s eaten.

On today’s menu there is: BBQ chicken, broccoli and mac and cheese. Along with Vinograd today there are three volunteers helping her: Emilio Gonzales, Yesenia Sibrian and James Riojas, once they are done with the cooking and packing, the meals are loaded up and will be delivered. “We feed people in a way that supports what someone is looking for, we meet them where they’re at,” says Vinograd.

After a four-hour shift Gonzales, Sibrian and Riojas take a break and reflect on what volunteering at Our Shared Kitchen means to them. Gonzales says that he has been volunteering for two years now and the most gratifying thing to him is helping people find well balanced meals and knowing the food he’s helping provide is needed in the community. Sibrian and Riojas just started volunteering at this organization but so far are enjoying the help they give others in their community.