Inspired by the success of a grassroots program that fed schoolchildren during an unusually long 2010-2011 winter break, citizens from the Galesburg, Ill., area banded together to form the Knox Prairie Community Kitchen.
Twice a month, volunteers from Knox College and the larger community organize free dinners in an open, friendly atmosphere in the basement of a Galesburg church.
"We are an additional resource for food and for community connection," says Peter Schwartzman, a KPCK board member. "We recognize that knowing people different from us has value."
Dinner crowds have grown as word has spread through the community.
Adriana Colindres works for Knox College and volunteers at the Knox Prairie Community Kitchen. She listens to three NPR stations on a regular basis — WIUM/Tri States Public Radio in Macomb; WCBU in Peoria and WUIS in Springfield — sometimes on the radio and sometimes through an app.
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