Centre Kitchen Collective

09/04/2026

Big news for Centre Kitchen Collective!

We’ve been awarded $121,000 from the West Penn Energy Fund to help equip our new shared-use commercial kitchen in Pine Grove Mills!

This funding will help us bring in innovative, energy-efficient equipment while creating something we’ve dreamed about for a long time: an affordable, well-equipped space where local farmers and food entrepreneurs can turn great ideas and locally grown ingredients into great products.

We’re incredibly grateful to WPEF for investing in this project — and in a stronger, more sustainable local food system. 💚

The kitchen is coming! Stay tuned as we build it out. 🔨🥕🍅

If you're a food entrepreneur in Central Pennsylvania - fill out out interest form to stay in the loop!

We're all about food, and the community that gathers around it. Growing a hub of culinary creativity and community connections in Centre County.

05/07/2026

Our hearts are full!
We loved all the smiles during the store this evening!
And we won the 5-6 power hour with 32 unique donors!

We definitely are feeling the wind in our sails!
Much gratitude to Sarah, whose gorgeous cookies made me cry, and our ever supportive co-founder Elaine from Webster's Bookstore & Cafe, who treated us to local asparagus, salads and delicious refreshments.

Thank You all who joined us and are seeing the vision alongside us!

You’ve still got 25 minutes to donate to your favorite local non-profits! !

💕💕💕

05/07/2026

It's time!
We are participated in to raise the funds to make this kitchen happen! ***Please support us during our Power Hour today from 5-6pm by donating at https://centregives.org/organizations/282-centre-kitchen-collective***

Our building at the heart of Pine Grove Mills was one that most people drove past without a second glance. Its porch was painted in faded Easter egg colors, a tired pink and yellow that had long since stopped saying welcome and started saying forgotten. Inside, empty rooms sat in quiet disrepair, waiting.
It would have been easy to look away.

We saw past the peeling paint and the worn floors and the rooms that had lost their purpose. We saw what the building had once been, and more importantly, what it could become again.

Restoration is slow work. It asks more of you than you expect.

There are days when the gap between what is and what you're reaching for feels impossibly wide. But you show up anyway, because you understand that some things are worth the effort, not just for yourself, but for the people around you.

That front porch tells the whole story. Where there was once peeling paint, there are now overflowing planters and neighbors sitting on the steps, deep in conversation, the way life fills in when you give it somewhere to go.

The kitchen is next. Right now it looks like those early before photos, a room full of potential that hasn't found its form yet. Empty, waiting.
But we've been here before. We know what perseverance looks like, and we know what it produces.

When that kitchen comes to life, it won't just be a place to cook. It will be the warm center of something, a place where farmers and makers and neighbors and entrepreneurs gather, create, and sustain one another.

We've already proven it's possible. Now we're asking you to help us do it again.

05/06/2026

We're LIVE on Centre Gives — and today is the day we need you!

Centre Kitchen Collective is raising $20,000 toward the renovation and opening of our shared-use commercial kitchen in Pine Grove Mills.
Yesterday morning we woke up to extraordinary news: we've just been approved for grant funding for innovative, highly energy-efficient kitchen equipment!
We can't share all the details quite yet, but what we can tell you is that this changes everything.

And it makes hitting our $20,000 Centre Gives goal more critical than ever, because YOUR support gets us the essential matching infrastructure for this grant (such as the stronger flooring support our historic building needs).

In other words: your donation today doesn't just build a kitchen. It unlocks so much more!

Give now while you're thinking about it, or **set your alarm** to donate during May 7th (Thursday) Power Hour from 5-6 to help us win an additional $500 prize. Minimum donation is just $10.

🔗 https://centregives.org/organizations/282-centre-kitchen-collective— donate now, share with someone who gets it, and stay tuned.
Big things are cooking. 🔥

04/28/2026

We've been quiet. Here's why.

If you've noticed that Centre Kitchen Collective has been a little quiet on here lately, you're right, and we owe you an update.

The truth is, we've been busy with our heads down, working.
Writing grants. Navigating the beautiful complexity of a 150-year-old building. Securing funding. Planning a kitchen that will actually serve this community the way it deserves to be served.

It's the unglamorous work, the kind that doesn't make for exciting social posts but makes everything else possible. And we're so close.

Inside the walls adjoining Centre Markets in Pine Grove Mills, something is taking shape. A shared-use commercial kitchen where local food makers can get licensed, launch their businesses, and stay right here in Centre County. A place where farm surplus becomes fresh grab-and-go meals instead of waste. A kitchen that belongs to this community.

We're back. And we have something to ask of you. 🌱
Centre Gives is coming — May 6th and 7th — and this year it matters more than ever. Our goal is $20,000 toward renovation and opening costs.
Stay tuned for how you can help.
In the meantime, we're so glad you're still here.

12/26/2025

We're finishing up our Community Survey on SNAP use - we'd love to hear your thoughts !

This survey is being conducted by Centre Kitchen Collective, a Centre County 501(c) 3 non-profit to determine community needs as related to Food Security. This survey should not take more than 5 minutes of your time. All of your responses will be confidential throughout the entire process. You may c...

12/02/2025

https://givebutter.com/HbZTjE

Centre Kitchen Collective Nonprofit: Food Business Incubation and Cooking Education

05/14/2025

Support Local Food Dreams During
TODAY and TOMORROW! 🌱

Centre Gives is the Annual local fundraising event by the Centre Foundation. It is the opportunity for Centre County non-profits to not only raise community donations, but also compete for additional prizes, and increase funding further through generous stretch funding from the Hamer Foundation.

This Wednesday and Thursday you will hear from many worthwhile local non-profits, so make your list of causes you care about and show your love for your local community.

This is THE annual event that makes it easy to do so. I know I have my favorite non-profits picked out, ready to donate today - and tomorrow till 8pm.

💚 Love where you live? Give where you love 💗

Elaine (Webster's Bookstore & Cafe) and I co-founded the Centre Kitchen Collective non-profit in 2023.

During the COVID crisis, we saw first hand how vital it is to have community-based infrastructure to support small food businesses and to connect them to our local farmers.

That’s why we’re working to establish a shared-use kitchen in Pine Grove Mills, alongside the Centre Markets local food market. We've been busy writing grants to raise funds for kitchen equipment, but unfortunately federal support is in short supply right now.
Our project will not only provide commercial kitchen space and business support for food entrepreneurs, but it will also host cooking and nutrition classes for both adults and children, emphasizing fresh, seasonal ingredients sourced from our local farmers.
Progress has been slow, but steady - and through your support, we'll create a vibrant hub where small businesses can grow, families can learn to cook with fresh ingredients, and our community can come together around good food.

Every donation brings us closer to making this vision a reality. Every $ will get us closer to a new cooler or a commercial kitchen sink.
Thank you for your continued support!

The Centre Kitchen Collective Board,
Sabine Carey, Elaine Meder-Wilgus and Laura Valchar

🍅💚🍅💚🍅
Donate here - we're a 501(c)3 and all donations are tax deductible

Centre Kitchen Collective's mission is to cultivate a resilient community where people are nourished by locally grown and prepared food, while nurturing...

06/03/2024

Pine Grove Mills friends!
The Pine Grove Mills Farmers Market starts off the season this Thursday!

Say Hi and support your local farmers 💕

05/13/2024

https://www.statecollege.com/centre-county-gazette/centre-kitchen-collective-announces-2024-supper-party-series-celebrating-local-farms/

Submitted By Centre Kitchen Collective PINE GROVE MILLS — Centre Kitchen Collective, in collaboration with the historic Pine Grove Hall and Centre