W&L Student Wins National Award from Campus Kitchens Project

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LEXINGTON, VA (12/12/2011)(readMedia)-- Shiri Yadlin, a Washington and Lee University senior from Irvine, Calif., won the Ingrid Easton Student Visionary Award from the Campus Kitchens Project at its national conference in St. Louis, Mo.

The award is named for Ingrid Easton, a 2006 graduate of W&L who opened the University's Campus Kitchen in September 2006. It goes to a student leader who "shows entrepreneurial drive, dreams big, and makes it happen."

"It was exciting not only to have an award named in honor of a W&L alumna, but also to have the award presented to a current volunteer with our Campus Kitchen," said Jennifer Davidson, coordinator of the Campus Kitchen at W&L (CKWL). "Shiri has been involved as a volunteer with CKWL since her freshman year and has been a key member of the Student Leadership Team ever since. She is our Campus Outreach Intern, organizing fund-raisers, food drives and Turkeypalooza's Bring Your Turkey to Work Day. Shiri also leads multiple shifts at the kitchen each week."

Yadlin was chosen from among nominees from the 31 Campus Kitchen programs throughout the country. She is a Johnson Scholar and a double major in politics and religion, with a minor in poverty studies.

In addition to her work with Campus Kitchen, Yadlin is active in W&L's Bonner Leaders Program, where students provide 900 hours of service over two years.

Melissa Medeiros, W&L's Bonner coordinator, said that Shiri, through the Bonner Program and her involvement with the broader Shepherd Poverty Program, "has been able to find profound connections between her service and her education at W&L and future career path. I continue to be impressed by the depth of her self-reflection and growth as a leader both on campus and in the local community."

Yadlin was a Shepherd Alliance intern during the summer of 2010, working on transitional housing and advocacy at N Street Village in Washington, D.C. She has also worked as a coordinator of the Volunteer Venture pre-orientation program and is a campus tour guide.