Office Doors: A Day With Lisa Scarpinato
CEO of Kitchen on the Street
By Julie Coleman
6:00 a.m. RECIPE FOR SELF-CARE
I start every day with an hour and a half, five-mile walk, because 260 days ago, I beat breast cancer. I want to stay as healthy as I can. While I walk, I listen to podcasts, sermons or TED Talks. I am investing in my brain while investing in my body.
7:30 a.m. THE COMMUNITY TABLE
I like to be a part of the community, especially where we do most of our work. I sit on the President’s Community Advisory Council at Paradise Valley Community College that meets once a quarter. We focus on what’s going on in the local college realm as students are one of the age groups seeing a rise in hunger. There are other resources on this board that allow others to come alongside us, like hosting a food drive or promoting Kitchen on the Street. I’m not sure that everyone realizes there are lots of ways to help nonprofits that have nothing to do with money.
9:30 a.m. SEASONED WITH LOVE
School districts come and pick up food typically every four weeks from Kitchen on the Street. In preparation for a school’s pick-up today, I count out the food boxes, get it all ready, and load it up on a forklift and send it out.
10:00 a.m. A FAMILY RECIPE
I try to do two to three things at one time since I am the only full-time employee. My husband also works here part-time. He is the visionary and I’m the “make it happen” person. I am always working to market Kitchen on the Street to get our name out there. I manage logistics, our food coming in and out, and am also the volunteer coordinator.
1:00 p.m. TASTE OF COLLABORATION
At my desk, I respond to emails with 30 different school partners to distribute Bags of Hope, which are food backpacks, to 2,000 kids throughout the Valley. I communicate on a regular basis with the schools on how many backpacks they handed out, sending new shipments and how many backpacks they need.
3:00 p.m. THE SECRET INGREDIENT
Kitchen on the Street has 18 board members and making sure they are spreading the word is important and keeps me busy. Right now, we have a push to vote for Kitchen on the Street in a contest to win $10,000. I try to be creative and make it easy for board members to promote Kitchen on the Street via grassroots marketing by providing them with a picture, link and wording they can use on their social media.
4:00 p.m. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
I communicate every day about volunteer opportunities, whether it’s answering emails, setting up a private volunteer page so a group of 30 can sign up and track who is participating, or food drives and the most needed food items. The donated food from the community helps our bottom line since we don’t have to buy it. Every day is different, and I like the variety!
5:00 p.m. THE WAY TO A WOMAN’S HEART
My husband is a former chef. He cooks pretty much every night, which is awesome for me. I have to wash the dishes, but I get to eat great food, so it works perfectly for me.
7:00 p.m. SIMMERING DOWN
My husband and I watch Netflix and just finally joined this era! “Jack Ryan” is one of our favorite shows and “Bosch” is excellent. We binge watch and that makes us feel young.
8:00 p.m. FOOD FOR THE SOUL
This year, one of my resolutions is to read a betterment book every 60 days on topics like nonprofits, hunger, nutrition, poverty, relationships, etc. I also read novels, biographies and romance for enjoyment. Some of the books I’ve read this year are “Understanding Poverty” by Ruby Payne, “Season of Life” by Jeffrey Marx, “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” by Lori Gottlieb and “Girl, Stop Apologizing” by Rachel Hollis.
9:00 p.m. ONE CUP OF R+R
I go to sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I have a lot to think about as I have 2,000 kids to feed a week and need to get some sleep!
To learn more, go to kitchenonthestreet.org.
