Do you remember a few months ago when I told you I was starting my volunteer work with Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters? Well, our participants graduated from the program on Thursday night! My heart was so full watching these four amazing women receive their certificates. I am so proud of them.
For 6 weeks, we reviewed nutrition basics and cooked healthier versions of our favorite meals together. The success of the program would not have been possible without our coordinators, Alison and Livia, our nutrition expert, Kelsey, and our cooking guru, Chef Sean. We made a great team, if I do say so myself 😉
↑ Group photo with Kelsey, Sean and our participants ( we clearly didn’t all know what camera to look at 😉 )
↑ Me, Chef Sean + Kelsey
↑ Chopping up the tomatoes for our turkey tacos
↑ Chef Sean + Ms. Fernandez
↑ We played a fun trivia game while waiting for our turkey meat to cook. I had a fun time playing ‘Vanna’ ↓
I absolutely loved my experience as a Cooking Matters assistant. The curriculum is outstanding and encourages participants to make manageable and impactful changes. Budget, food and time constraints are taken into account, and we never told participants that a food was ‘bad.’ Instead, we focused on sometimes foods vs. every day foods and made sure participants knew that it is okay to snack on a treat every once in a while. I highly recommend volunteering with this program. You will leave with a full heart (and stomach!)
Interested in getting involved?
- Capital Area Food Bank volunteer opportunities here.
- Skilled Volunteer Programs here
- DC Cooking Matters volunteer positions here
Thanks to Chef Sean for sharing his photos with me!
This looks like such an awesome program!! I would love to get involved with something like this in Charlotte! Wonder if anything exists…