05/15/2022
Hello, Muffin Lovers!
I know you've all been missing the muffins, but I wanted to share a little exciting news and the reason why I've put my baking on hold for a little bit. Don't worry, the muffins will be back. I promise!
As many of you know, I've been on a quest to help others find their path to a healthier life, whatever that looks like. This work has been important to me since my days of working in restaurants and seeing how fortunate many were to have access to beautiful foods and yet noticing the disparity growing especially amongst many middle and low income, hard-working families in Seattle, myself included. The pandemic couldn't have shone a harsher spotlight on those already living on the margins and making it blatantly apparent that more, much much more, needs to be done to help everyone have access to better health care, and better traditional, local and nutritious foods.
Enter the CHEF program, a local solution here in San Antonio, to help bring basic cooking and nutrition classes to youth in school districts across the city. We are a small staff of five, with two of us primarily training teachers to run our various curricula to reach as many students as possible with our programming. With the help of the amazing SA Food Bank and their culinary and nutrition staff, we are a small, but mighty team having a very significant impact in the short 5 years that this program has existed--and that's through the pandemic as well.
As many of you know, I took a pitstop in Laredo to care for my parents and then during the pandemic used what I knew to help bring healthier foods to this community and made many great friend and partners in health here. I feel embraced by Laredo in a way that I have not ever forgotten and that is why I'm so excited to share this news.
Our CHEF program has been selected as one of four finalists to pitch a concept, a "shark tank" for non profits of sorts. Our concept is simple: we want to create a coordinated school health plan, which would include our program, along with a few other components such as a mental health curriculum, that would allow us to make this material available STATEWIDE. South Texas is a starting goal, which means I could be able to do what I do and not just help children and families in San Antonio, but Laredo as well. This would allow me to come full circle and help support the community that welcomed me back with such loving arms when I landed here in Texas during a very difficult and challenging time.
Today is the final day to vote, so I ask for you to please consider taking a look at the info I've shared here and make a small contribution to our cause. Feel free to share the link too.
https://www.philanthropitch.org/san-antonio
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
