Cooking Matters: A look from inside
Posted by James Hartrick on Friday, December 17, 2010
I am currently a Cooking Matters Americorps member in Detroit, MI. The organization that I am paired up with is Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeast Michigan (GCFBSM). GCFBSM was co-founded in 1977 by Gene Gonya and was also one of the founding members of Second Harvest, now called Feeding America. Michigan has a food insecurity rate of 12% with a child food insecurity rate of 15.3%. These alarming statistics solidify the essential role that GCFBSM plays in the community.
I have had the pleasure of coordinating four Cooking Matters courses already and co-coordinating another two courses. I have coordinated a Saving Smart, Spending Smart course, a Comer Bien course, a Side by Side course, a Start by Eating Right Course, and two Eating Right courses. The courses have been held at very diverse locations in the metropolitan Detroit area. For example, one was at the Detroit Latino Mission Society, another was at a veterans housing center and a third was at a Head Start elementary school.
GCFBSM has been holding Cooking Matters courses since 1994. One of our oldest partners in battling hunger is the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. The main location, which is located only a block away, has been serving hot meals to neighborhood residents since 1929. The Capuchin Province of St. Joseph began its Detroit ministry in 1883 and has grown to include two soup kitchens, a monastery, a substance abuse program, a furniture, appliance and clothing distribution center, a children’s library, an art therapy studio and one of the more prominent urban farms in Detroit, Earthworks. I am currently coordinating a class through the Capuchin Soup Kitchen and stumbled upon a certificate awarded to them from Share Our Strength. Notice that it was awarded in 1994 and is signed by Billy Shore!
My first few months as an Americorps for Cooking Matters has been very rewarding and has allowed me to interact with a lot of really amazing people. I am looking forward to 2011 and all of the new courses that I will be coordinating!
December 17, 2010 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: AmeriCorps, Cooking Matters
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