Salvation Army And Partners Launch Practical Skills Class

In the photo: Confidence in the Kitchen planning team members cooking up ideas for the class.  Pictured in The Salvation Army kitchen front, from left: planning team coordinator Ann Hermann, Festival Foods Nutritional Communications Manager Jennifer Dreyer, MPTC Culinary Arts Instructor Tom Endejan; back, from left, St. Agnes Hospital Community Health Program Coordinator Terri St. Lawrence, Agnesian Healthcare Chef Mike Wetzel, Salvation Army Director of Social Services Ron Jacobson.

The Story:

The Fond du Lac Salvation Army and community partners, with a grant from U.S. Bank and other donations, team to deliver some of the life skills over 300 Salvation Army clients identified as necessary to helping them build increased  stability.  Over half of participants in the January 2016 survey asked for help budgeting and making easy and healthy meals. 

“Our clients are on limited incomes and many also have health related issues,”  Ron Jacobson Director of Social Services shares, “so we teamed inspired experts together to create  a practical class that delivers good, healthy meals, teaches participants how to make them and gives them confidence and the skills to make meals at home on a budget.”

Retired public health nurse Ann Hermann leads the class development, assisted by Sandy Fryda, a retired public health nurse supervisor.  MPTC Culinary Arts Instructor Tom Endejan, Agnesian Healthcare Chef Mike Wetzel and Festival Foods Nutrition Communication Manager Jennifer Dreyer will deliver six two hour classes, aptly entitled Confidence in the Kitchen. Sessions are packed with basic kitchen knowledge, budgeting,  grocery store ins and outs, crockpot meals, bread baking, quick ‘grab and go’ meals and how to best use foods from The Salvation Army Food Pantry.

Jacobson, St. Agnes Hospital Community Health Program Coordinator Terri St. Lawrence, Executive Director Juanna Montes and the FDL Literacy Team, Captain Telinda Wilson, Salvation Army Advisory Board members Sarah Dowidat and Dr. Chris Laurent assist.

“The class teaches families to be more stable financially by giving them the skills they need to make meals at home and showing them how to stretch their budget,” Captain Wilson says. “Moreover, we  also promote family stability by bringing families closer  while they spend time making and enjoying meals in their kitchens together.”

Each participant will get the basic cooking tools needed to cook with confidence at home.  “When we learned many kitchens didn’t have cutting boards, measuring spoons, pans and crockpots, we knew we had to provide them,” Jacobson says.”  Community is invited to help, using the kitchen shower registry set up in The Salvation Army’s name at Kohl’s Department Store and then delivering items to The Salvation Army by March 2.

For more information contact Social Services Director Ron Jacobson at 923-8220 x. 115.