Last Friday we held our first session “ trial run” to get a sense of Eastport United Methodist Church’s kitchen equipment and how things might go. The plan was to make 50 burritos for the church’s monthly food pantry held the next day.
The teamwork was awesome and we made the 50 breakfast burritos in no time, with variations such as egg only, sausage and bacon, and beef.
The next day we served the burritos at the church’s food pantry – people had lined up an hour before it opened and we served the burritos hot to the folks waiting in line. All 50 burritos were gone in minutes. People loved them thanks to our skilled mentors and volunteers.
“better than anything store bought” “sooo good” “nice job guys!”
This was an awesome test run for our program. It’s amazing that we have a great commercial kitchen in the neighborhood provided by such a solid organization. We are grateful to use the kitchen, thank you to all the Eastport United Methodist Church members who facilitated our access. We’re looking forward to our next program session!
The kitchen is where ingredients transform into delicious meals.
Community meals celebrate our harvest, we share the fruits of our labor.
“Value-added products” allow us to transform our harvest into products for wider distribution.
For example: a spice mix, herbal teas, hot sauce.
The kitchen is where fruit of our community farming is transformed into nourishment
Some of our neighbors’ needs for basic nourishment are not being met.
We use our nonprofit structures to gather ingredients and resources.
We cultivate the land surrounding us to produce abundantly.
We transform these ingredients into meals for the community.
Volunteers, especially youth participants, experience their power to uplift, contribute and nourish.
We partner with community members for entrepreneurship initiatives such as developing a product.
This program will continue in collaboration with Donna’s Day of Hope and Giving and youth leaders.
We work with middle and high schoolers who are less often engaged in afterschool programs to produce meals for other youth evening programs.
We plan to hold the program 3 nights a week and to regularly serve meals to our wider community.
The youth’s curriculum will include cooking basics paired with cultural connections and lessons shared by guest chefs.
