YWCA Be the Recipe for Change takes cooking classes to a whole new level. It’s a private culinary course with a social purpose.

The goal of Be the Recipe for Change is to provide women living in their Transitional Living Program with healthy, delicious meals each evening. The YWCA Transitional Living Program is a 65 bed residence that provides temporary housing (up to 11 months) to at-risk women struggling with poverty, homelessness and violence.

Women in the program are also provided with case management support, goal planning, skills building, employment support, counseling and crisis intervention, though the YWCA receives no government funding for providing meals. Many of the residents must resort to food banks or other lower cost food items (which may not be on the healthy side). That’s where Be the Recipe for Change comes in!

How does it work?

You sign up beforehand with Jessica Chevrier at jchevrier@ywcahamilton.org. You have the option of an Interactive Cooking class with six friends for $300 or if you’re short on time, you are able to adopt a meal for $300 and allow another group to do the cooking. (A special thank you to PV&V Insurance for sponsoring our evening with the YWCA Recipe for Change program).

The culinary team at the YWCA café will have already decided on the menu for the evening, and done all the grocery shopping…so you don’t need to worry about that! Just grab your apron, wash your hands and get to work. You will hear from the chef about the dish you’ll be making that evening, and then each member will get to choose a working station (which you can switch up, of course).

Since we were there on a Tuesday, our team made Tacos (#TacoTuesday) and Melon and Arugula Salad.

Stations for The Generator Team included cutting vegetables, cooking ground beef, frying tortillas, zesting limes and more! An evening like this makes a great team-building exercise, since you are all working together on one delicious project and you get to see (and taste!) the fruits of your labour.

Once the meal is complete, the YWCA team will let the women in the program know that their dinner is served, and the cooking team (that’s us!) will divvy out the meal to the residents. After all is said and done, you will get to enjoy a delicious meal made by your team in the YWCA café alongside the residents and see your volunteering making a difference in your community.

Be the Recipe for Change makes a great night out with friends, or an evening of team-bonding with coworkers (like we did)!

For more information visit: http://ywcahamilton.org/how-you-can-help/be-the-recipe-for-change

-Heather