First Everytable Lounge at CMD

Santa Monica College Foundation and Social Enterprise Everytable Unite to Fight Student Hunger and Food Insecurity with First Everytable SmartFridge Lounge

With Grand Opening at the SMC Center for Media & Design on February 25, First-of-Its-Kind Collaboration Will Offer Healthy and Affordable Meals for Students, Plus Free Meals for College’s Centralized Food Pantry

SANTA MONICA, California – Santa Monica College Foundation and Everytable, the social enterprise on a mission to make healthy food affordable and accessible for all, have united in a pioneering collaboration to combat the food insecurity that stands at a staggering 50 percent among the college’s students. On Tuesday, February 25, Everytable will open its first Everytable Lounge at the Santa Monica College (SMC) Center for Media & Design, and in lieu of paying rent, will offer a range of hot bowls, salads and wraps starting under $5.00, and donate 300-500 meals per week to the college’s food pantry. Everytable will leverage its automated Smartfridge technology and its central kitchen model that allows the mission-based company to avoid high labor costs while still providing healthy and delicious meals at affordable prices.

During the grand opening on February 25, which will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., guests will enjoy free food samples, games, giveaways, a special performance by the SMC cheerleading team, and music by KCRW DJ Mario Cotto from the college’s NPR radio station KCRW (89.9 FM), which is housed at the Center for Media & Design.

According to Lizzy Moore, President of the Santa Monica College Foundation and Dean of Institutional Advancement, Everytable comes to SMC as part of the Foundation’s core campaign to help students meet their basic needs so they can thrive and succeed in their academic pursuits. As the severity of food insecurity at community colleges and universities around the country continues to escalate to egregious levels, collaborations like these are critical to solving the problem.

“Santa Monica College Foundation is determined to provide our students with an affordable and world-class education - and that includes a resolve to provide actionable solutions around hunger and food insecurity,” said Moore. “This partnership with Everytable is a significant step toward eliminating the food desert on and around one of our satellite campuses by providing healthy, affordable meals for our students and our campus neighbors. With food insecurity among community college students averaging 40 to 50 percent, this unique partnership has the potential to help solve the crisis, and pave the way for campuses across the country.”

"This is an exciting moment for Santa Monica College, in which two organizations have come together in such a creative, organic way, to help ensure that we are taking care of the whole student--and not just their academic or intellectual needs," said Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery, SMC Superintendent/President. "A hungry student cannot focus clearly and the learning process and experience is compromised. This new Everytable lounge will play a significant role in helping SMC students fulfill their academic goals, and be change-makers for themselves, their families and their communities. To me, this is a genius collaboration where great thinking has yielded a timely and purposeful solution. My sincere appreciation to the SMC Foundation and Everytable!"

Everytable launched in 2015 as a revolutionary grab-and-go restaurant concept offering delicious, made-from-scratch meals priced according to what a specific neighborhood can afford. Meals are prepared by chefs at a single central kitchen to reduce costs, and those savings are passed on to guests with meals typically starting around $5.00 in underserved neighborhoods and $7.00 in middle-income or affluent communities. Everytable has now evolved into a multi-channel, fresh-prepared food business, making healthy meals accessible through storefronts, SmartFridges and meal subscription delivery and pick-up throughout Los Angeles and Orange County, California, with plans to expand to other U.S. metropolitan cities in coming years.

Recently, Everytable has stepped up efforts to help solve food insecurity among higher education students opening storefronts at several Los Angeles-area community colleges and universities. The Everytable Lounge at SMC will blend the company’s traditional storefront design with its tech-enabled, cashierless vending machines to provide a comfortable and welcoming gathering spot for the community. The lounge will feature student-led design elements to help foster community connections, including a Community Board, curated by students for students and an Art Wall featuring work from students at the Center for Media and Design, which also houses Santa Monica College’s baccalaureate program in Interaction Design.

“As hunger and food insecurity rates among students here in Los Angeles and across the country continue to skyrocket, we need impactful and innovative programs so students don’t need to choose between food and an education,” said Sam Polk, co-founder and CEO, Everytable. “We are honored to work with forward-thinking organizations like Santa Monica College Foundation, and together we are determined to find additional practical and replicable solutions to ensure that every student has access to healthy meals regardless of their ability to pay.”

The new Everytable Lounge is located in the SMC Center for Media & Design (1660 Stewart Street in Santa Monica 90404) and will be open during school operating hours.

About Santa Monica College

Founded in 1929, Santa Monica College is a California Community College accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). In addition to being California’s leader in transfers to the University of California system, the University of Southern California, and Loyola Marymount University, SMC also offers more than 110 career training degrees and certificates. SMC provides news and cultural enrichment through its NPR radio station KCRW (89.9 FM) and The Broad Stage at the SMC Performing Arts Center as well as lifelong learning through distinctive programs such as its Emeritus Program for older adults. In partnership with its Associated Students and Foundation, SMC has developed one of the most comprehensive food security programs i­n California: it includes; a free lunch voucher program; 10 food closets and a new centralized food pantry; and application/enrollment opportunities through CalFresh for eligible students.

About Santa Monica College Foundation

The Santa Monica College Foundation is a dynamic, preeminent 501 c (3) dedicated to ensuring the success of Santa Monica College students who come from diverse local and global communities. The Foundation connects individual and corporate donors, philanthropists, and community supporters with opportunities to effect true change at a world-class educational institution where equity, access, and excellence come together. The Foundation fundraises; develops strategic partnerships for student success such as scholarships, emergency aid, and basic needs support; facilitates investment towards Santa Monica College by stewarding gifts and funds; and fosters faculty and program excellence through fellowships, grants, and more. The Foundation believes in the power of education to change the world, and in that of philanthropy and generosity to be the building blocks of that change.

About Everytable

Founded in 2015, Everytable is a mission-driven food company that fights for food justice and equality by providing healthy and nutritious food that is both accessible and affordable for everyone. Today, Everytable is a multi-channel, fresh-prepared food business blending storefronts, subscriptions and SmartFridges supplied by a central kitchen with meals priced according to the neighborhood. To date, Everytable has sold more than 1 million meals and for every 50,000 meals sold, it lays the groundwork to open a storefront in another deserving community. With support from food-forward investors like Kimbal Musk, Maria Shriver, Gwyneth Paltrow, TOMS Social Enterprise Fund, Acumen, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and most recently, The California Wellness Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation, Everytable has plans to expand into additional metropolitan areas across the country. For more information, please visit everytable.com.