Last Thursday, CAW’s Brent McClure, Keith Wainschel, and Sarah Vaccaro had the honor of attending the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Oakland Unified School District’s The Center (aka: the Central Commissary, Education Center and Urban Farm) project. It was a beautiful, moving, passionate celebration of the cumulative effort of OUSD Staff, non-profit partners, Board of Education members, Superintendents, parents, students, our design team and the contractor team for the past 7 years to bring this project to the beginning of construction. It has not been an easy process, and the perseverance and vision of this collective community to see this project through was inspiring.
While we still have 14 (long) months of construction ahead of us to fully realize this transformative project, it was inspiring to be reminded of why this project and the work we do is so important. Once built, the Center will provide over 6 million fresh, locally grown, healthy meals per year to thousands of Oakland students who need and deserve quality and tasty food so they can pursue and achieve their dreams. The Center will be a place for students, families, and communities in Oakland to be reunited with the agricultural roots of Oakland – to learn how good, healthy food is grown, prepared and provides nourishment to the body. This facility – our design – will house and enable all of these programs and be a source of pride. This project will transform lives and communities in Oakland.
