The author of Our Little Kitchen, Jillian Tamaki, was inspired to create Our Little Kitchen based on her experience helping out at a community kitchen in New York once a week for many years (read the “Author’s Note” at the end of the book for more on her experience). Ask an adult to help you find a community kitchen in your area where you could volunteer, visit or donate food. Maybe you will even find yourself in a small kitchen trying to come up with a creative way to use the food that’s available! As Jillian says, “our little kitchen was not a solution to our problems of food, housing and economic insecurity — it merely provided one meal on Wednesday nights. Still, we kept showing up.” Sometimes life, and being part of a community, is simply about showing up in whatever way we can.
