Kindness at Carol’s Kitchen 

There wasn’t much for my family to do when I’d visit home. Walmart and Dollar Tree can only hold one’s attention for so long. So from time to time, we’d take advantage of the free meal at the local community center. It wasn’t so much about the food, but more about spending time together with family in a place that will always be home. Some of my fondest memories have been spent at Carol’s Kitchen and in that communal meeting space, and I’m grateful an organization like that exists. 

Whenever I’d go home, the only family outside my parents, brother, and nephew I cared to see was my aunt and oldest cousin. We’d often meet for free lunch where we could sit and catch up over a free meal that put a big relief on all of our wallets. A hot meal, drink, and even a dessert – plus great conversations and laughs? Nothing better than all of that. 

Carol’s Kitchen sets up twice a week in Cabazon, CA at the community center, a place that was still pretty new to the area right around the time I was getting ready to pack up and head off to college. However, before I said goodbye, I volunteered there at an after-school program. I can still remember how it always smelt when you walked in, and the woman named Sylvia who ran it. 

I’d originally only wanted to volunteer long enough to get enough hours to graduate with honors, but after enjoying it a lot more than I’d expected – I was there most of my junior year, and well into my senior year as well. I got to spend extra time with my brother and cousin, the same one that I’d later catch up with in that same community center. Sylvia was a gem for starting that program and being a safe place for Cabazon kids to have to themselves for a few extra hours after school. Today, Big Brothers Big Sisters has taken its place, and Sylvia has passed but it’s because of her and that community center that I’ve always gravitated towards volunteering. 

I think that’s also in part to growing up in a place that desperately needed all the help it could get, and seeing things like Sylvia’s after-school program and Carol’s Kitchen at that community center and knowing realizing early in life how important those types of things are. Without each, many kids would’ve had to go home to either empty houses or houses that many would feel were unfit for children, while Carol’s Kitchen has helped more people fill their pantries. 

Carol’s Kitchen has helped so many since 1998, including my family, and has inspired many to always give back, because there is always room to do so.