ITW Food Equipment Group brands Traulsen and Hobart have revealed the first winner in the Save Your Kitchen 2021 campaign sweepstakes in honor of National School Breakfast Week.  Essexville-Hampton Public Schools in Essexville, Michigan, won by random selection, the first of four drawings for 2021. 

The sixth iteration of the popular K-12 kitchen equipment makeover initiative kicked off early this year.  Save Your Kitchen will provide free Traulsen and Hobart kitchen equipment to three remaining sweepstake entrant winners throughout the year.

The school selected the One-Section Reach-In Refrigerator (RHT132WUT) from Traulsen which features 24 cubic feet of storage space, advanced technology like Traulsen’s StayClear Condenser coil and Smart Control with critical alarms. Their Hobart prize selection, a Centerline by Hobart 20 Quart Mixer (HMM20), is a perfect fit for their kitchen because it can be used for multiple applications.

“Even with our student load down at the moment, we were greatly in need of updated kitchen equipment for when we are back in full swing,” says Melissa Pavlik, director of dining services for Essexville-Hampton Public Schools. “We serve eight different menus that are challenging to deliver with our current equipment in a small kitchen with a limited budget. The new mixer will help us to deliver more made-from-scratch options for our students and the updated refrigerator replaces outdated and stressed equipment to keep our products safer and deliver high-quality meals. We never thought we could win something like this, and we are extremely thankful to have these amazing products in our facility.”

The sweepstakes is open to K-12 nutrition professionals in the 50 states and Washington, DC. Among the products offered in this year’s giveaways are Traulsen refrigerators, a freezer or a milk cooler plus a Hobart slicer or mixer for all four giveaways, as well as a Hobart AM-style dish machine for the July drawing only. Different products may be available for specific drawings. The entry deadline for the second drawing is May 7, 2021, at 11:59 pm.  Sweepstake details, entry form, products and other information can be found at the Save Your Kitchen website.

“In these times of financial stress on nutrition programs and schools trying to get their footing again, the 2021 Save Your Kitchen Campaign is more important than ever,” says Hailey Elting, business development manager and K-12 specialist at Traulsen. “We hear from hundreds of schools every year who want to deliver great meals and food choices to their students, but they don’t always have the right equipment or the most updated tools. This sweepstakes helps us partner with these deserving schools to help them better serve their students…it’s a win for everyone.”