Crossroads Mission Avenue will receive kitchen upgrades to its facilities

KEARNEY, Neb. (KSNB) – Crossroads Mission Avenue is undergoing improvements to its kitchen to improve safety and expand dining and cooking areas.

The establishment has been on site since 2012 and has used a residential kitchen to cook all of its meals. But over time, the residence kitchen could not keep up with the amount of meals needed to send food boxes to the community and feed those living on campus.

The total cost of the project, including merchandise appliances and fixtures provided by Cash-Wa Distributing, is estimated at $447,608. The addition of commercial appliances and a smart, elevated design will maximize the use of the kitchen.

Crossroads Mission Avenue Executive Director Daniel Buller said the establishment has long needed kitchen upgrades and is happy to see them continue at the facility.

“The kitchen has been a big concern for a long time because we were operating with a residential-style kitchen, which wouldn’t have been a problem until we had 40-50 people in our facility on any given day, and an additional 40-50 on top of that, so five or six distributed throughout the community.” a hundred food boxes,” Buller said. “We know that a residential-style kitchen cannot withstand this type of use.”

In addition to the additional space that comes with the commercial kitchen, Buller said he is also looking forward to the improved security that will come with the improvements.

“The difference between a commercial kitchen and a residential-style kitchen will be things that involve code and fire codes,” Buller said. “There’s definitely a fire suppression system on the stove, there’s a vented hood system, there’s a commercial stove, because before we were only cooking on a residential stove.”

Construction of the facility’s dining room and kitchen has forced the organization to adjust the way it distributes food boxes and cooks meals for residents, but Buller said they have handled that.

“We definitely had to pivot while we were building,” Buller said. “We still offer food boxes to the community if people need to come. We use other parts of our facility to cook meals for people on campus, and then we bring that to the homeless shelter so people can eat.

The project has also received a lot of support from the Kearney community through funding from Kearney Give Where You Live 2023, Kearney Area Community Foundation, Klinkacek Community Enrichment Grant, Ted Baldwin DAF Grant, Food Bank for the Heartland and several other anonymous funders. .

Buller said the overwhelming support from the community demonstrates the need for Crossroads Mission Avenue in Kearney.

“I think we all recognize that food security is a real issue, especially in these difficult economic times,” Buller said. “Food security is the difference between choosing to buy food to put on the table today and paying your rent or paying your bills. “This is a bad place for families to be in, and so I think it represents the compassion from the community.”

The upgrades are expected to continue through mid-November, in time for holiday meal service to the community.

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