Teen Kitchen Project in Santa Cruz

 A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to spend a couple of hours in a busy kitchen here in Santa Cruz. This is where the Teen Kitchen Project creates their delicious and nutritious meals with love!   When I arrived no one even saw that I had arrived as everyone was busy and happily working. What I noticed was teenagers scrubbing and prepping food, adults assisting, looking at lists and recipes- all to the sounds of Adam Levine playing on the radio.

I first heard of the Teen Kitchen Project last year when I attended a local charity fundraiser, the Santa Cruz chapter of 100 Women That Care.  The basis of this charity is that every 3 months, 100 women get together and pick a charity to donate $100 each to.  The result, one lucky charity goes back to their organization with $10,000.00!  It was the Teen Kitchen Project that won the money that night!

I was so enchanted by this organization that I offered to see if they would like some photography to document their hard work. So glad the answer was yes!

Here are some reasons why (taken from the Teen Kitchen Project website). For fifteen years Angela Farley has been guiding young people at a local Santa Cruz school, inspiring a love of learning in a classroom chock full of energy, laughter, and exploration. In 2011 her world changed forever when her youngest son Charlie was diagnosed with a rare lung cancer. Like any mother would, she supported her son through surgeries and chemotherapy with love, patience, and hope. After treatment ended (her son has a good prognosis), she vowed to help others still on their cancer journey by finding a way to give them nourishing, delicious food, and to lessen the isolation they may feel when in treatment by connecting them with their community.

Angela made her dream a reality by forming connections between two groups within the community:  families facing a serious illness and young people. Here in Santa Cruz, high school students need to do 40 hours of community service to graduate. Besides the importance of giving back, community service also helps you gain perspective on your own reality by understanding others. In addition to that, these teens are also learning about healthy food choices and how to cook.

Meals are prepared in a certified commercial kitchen and are designed by experienced chefs. Ingredients are organic and locally sourced.

Enjoy a look into this busy kitchen filled with so much goodness! As of today they have served 29,792 meals!!!!

The teens write cards to send with each of the meals while their food is cooking.

 

What impresses me most about Angela is that many people might have the idea to create a charity such as this but it’s very few that have the execution to make it a reality!

If your family or a family you know is in need of this wonderful service please click here.

If you would like to donate your money or time (cooking, helping, washing, driving meals, data entry, etc) to Teen Kitchen Project please click here. 

Angela, thank you for being such an outstanding example of giving back and community leadership!