The Kind Kitchen
The Kind Kitchen was the brainchild of Vanessa Gilpin, founder of &Munch (previously StrEAT Events), during the early days of the pandemic. Working in the events and F&B sector, specifically with independent street food vendors, Vanessa wanted to do something that would positively impact people struggling with food insecurity during the pandemic, as well as the independent vendors who had lost their business overnight. Vanessa reached out to ask if I would be interested in helping out. My answer - a resounding YES!
The Brief
Articulate the mission and purpose of The Kind Kitchen so the team of volunteers could articulate what we were trying to do when approaching funders and organisations we could support. Develop an identity that was joyful, uplifting and easily recognisable and one that would work well on a range of collateral.
Research and Insights
This project was more about making things happen than spending days, or even weeks researching customers, competition, etc, so we cracked on and made things happen.
Learnings
Exact same answer as above.
The Solution
We developed clear mission and social purpose statements, along with brand personality and tone of voice, to give the volunteer team a strong, cohesive sense of purpose. We created a supporting visual identity and a suite of illustrations to make a strong first impression, build recognition, and tell the story of The Kind Kitchen. A tailored set of social media assets helped us share that story widely, while also attracting vendors, charities, and potential donors.
Begged, stole and borrowed (less stealing, more begging TBF) and leaned on our individual networks to bring in donations of money, goods, and services for advertising and fundraising.
(Massive thanks to McAllister Litho for printing our OOH posters for free, to StreetPosters for donating prime Glasgow ad space, and to all the incredible businesses who gave generously – your support helped make The Kind Kitchen the success it was.)
The Results
During the first months of the pandemic The Kind Kitchen team, by organising lots of fundraising events and calling all our contacts, raised over £25,000 and delivered more the 3,000 hot meals to charities and food banks throughout Scotland.
We were able to support:
Kirkcaldy Foodbank, CCG Crookston Community Group, Eat UP Charity, Whiterose Community Hall, Lambhill Stables, Lights On G1, Springburn Parish Church, The People’s Pantry Leven, Destiny Church, North Glasgow Community Food Initiative, East Dunbartonshire Foodbank, Ruchazie Parish Church, East End Flat-Pack Meals & Pollokshaws Community Hub and Garden.
