The following is a post from Americorps VISTA Paulina Tran, Health Promotions Coordinator for Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and Urban Ministries of Wake County. You can read about our unique new partnership here.
Cooking Matters graduation is a clear example of how food brings people together. After 6 weeks, a total of 20 participants successfully graduated Cooking Matters for Adults at Urban Ministries in Raleigh, North Carolina. Urban Ministries is an organization that is dedicated to engage the community to serve and advocate on behalf of those affected by poverty by providing food and nutrition, promoting health and wellness, and by laying the foundations of home.
Graduation is both bittersweet and delightful. In fact, one of the participants even felt compelled to get up and dance as we ate. At graduation, we enjoyed delicious homemade hummus with a plethora of veggies, smoothies made from fresh fruit, and also easy-to-make pita chips. Although sad to see class end, the new graduates are ready to tackle on the world with their new knowledge on how to purchase and prepare nutritious foods in healthful, safe, and tasty ways…on a budget!
These first round of classes actually marked a step forward in the new partnership between Urban Ministries and Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. The partnership is aimed at utilizing both organizations’ resources into providing nutrition program most efficiently to the community especially by running Cooking Matters classes more regularly at Urban Ministries. We are excited to see more Cooking Matters classes being offered and more people being reached.