Many of you have asked how you contribute time or funds to the refugee work currently being done in Calais, France. Below is our shortlist of organizations doing good work in the area who are in need of your time, donations, or both:
MAKE FOOD! with Refugee Community Kitchen
Overview: All-volunteer kitchen creating and delivering hot, nourishing meals once-a-day for the refugees of Northern France. Serving food with dignity and love.
Duties: Vegetable washing/prep, light food prep (aka salad), dish cleaning, kitchen cleaning, meal distribution.
Volunteer Requirements: No previous kitchen experience required! All levels of culinary experience welcome. However, if you do have previous professional kitchen experience (especially in large scale cooking like cafeterias, catering, etc) and can commit to at least two weeks of volunteer time, they are always looking for kitchen leads to do some of the culinary heavy lifting like making the main dishes and/or rice. But even one day is appreciated to help prep and chop the mountain of produce they prepare each day.
PLAY WITH A CHILD! with Project Play
Overview: Dedicated to working with refugee children in Northern France via play-based, toy-filled tents set-up in local refugee communities.
Duties: TBD depending on expertise and previous work with at-risk childhood populations.
Volunteer Requirements: None but previous volunteer work with children preferred.
CHOP WOOD! with The Woodyard Calais
Overview: The Woodyard cuts, bundles, and distributes wood to the refugee communities in and around Northern France. Wood is used to cook, dry clothes, heat water to wash and to keep people warm during the winter when temperatures can drop to below -5°C in northern France.
Duties: Volunteers will assist with the setting up and running of the yard including; distributions, preparing wood for distribution, working alongside other associations. Being handy with a saw is a plus!
Volunteer Requirements: None but previous volunteer work with children preferred.
PS: If you are interested in joining our next CulinaryCorps trip to Calais, please fill out this VOLUNTEER INTEREST form and we’ll be in touch when trip details are available. Please note, no trip is currently planned as we’ll be gauging interest and need in early 2020.