KITCHEN NEEDS AN OVERHAUL

After 2 months of really funny-fun lunch-making I have an itch to upgrade the kitchen and am shopping around for
someone (hopefully you) to help… SIJCC is a no-brainer for a makeover show… we have cute kids, the kitchen will
be used for education and nutrition for those cute kids, and we are a pretty “green” facility… Zero waste lunches,
room for lovely vegetable gardens and a great space for the heart of the school to be reworked.

Silverlake Independent JCC, the developmental preschool on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Bates Ave., housed in an
architectural 50s building is in need of a better, eco-friendly kitchen. The building is home to about 100 preschool children and acts as a Jewish Community Center, offering adult learning classes, meeting space for the Chinese Cultural Center, yoga, Miss Helen’s ballet and My Gym’s Silverlake location for Karate classes. The gym at The Center was recently renovated and is being leased by Klub Gymnastics, which serves the community as well. The Community Center aspect of the SIJCC is expanding and could be much more dynamic with it’s heart, the kitchen, in better shape. Here’s my experience…

Like, did you know that kids will eat anything that is ORANGE?
Or, that whole-wheat tortillas to toddlers have the same effect as kryptonite to Superman?
And WHY is the only sink that works filled with Lego?

As it is now, the kitchen is not safe. It’s not envoronmentally sound. There’s not enough storage and it always looks
messy. It COULD be great… It could be used as a teaching kitchen for children AND adults. If it was nice I’d consider
making lunches and snacks more often than just Fridays.

The range has exposed pilots that blow out easily and teachers who use the kitchen to make snacks re-light it
with wooden stirrers or rolled up paper towels. It takes the old Wolf range about 1 hour to get a 5 gallon
pot of water to the boiling point. The faucet doesn’t reach to all 3 sinks. The drains run slow.
There’s no garbage disposal. There’s no recycling or composting for kitchen waste. The soap dispenser is
aquarium tubing. We use spoons to keep the cupboards closed…And don’t get me started on the tools!!

If there is any way you can help us, or know someone who can… please let me know!

*** for more information on the center, you can find it at www.sijcc.net

Thank you on behalf of the Silverlake Independent Jewish Commmunity Center.
1110 Bates Ave. LA, CA  90029

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