[1] The New Hampshire Food Bank’s program, Recipe for Success, brings new solutions to helping those in need, and was the subject of a recent article in New Hampshire Magazine:

Class Action: Feeding the needy and training new chefs in the process

If there ever was a perfect usage for the saying “win-win,” the [2] New Hampshire Food Bank’s Recipe for Success program surely is it.

Chef Jayson McCarter has the task of training student chefs to cook the after-school meal each weekday for the Manchester Boys and Girls Club, dinner for residents of Hampshire House, a halfway house on Elm Street, in addition to 150 meals daily for the Homeless Service Center also in Manchester. Along the way the student chefs, from difficult situations themselves, gain independence with new skills as they graduate and get real jobs in the marketplace.

As more than a repository and distribution center, the Food Bank, with its outreach programs, uses donated resources and doubles their effectiveness as meals. While baskets of canned goods are still boxed up for food pantries, cooked meals prepared here are frozen and distributed to 20 to 30 agencies across the state from the central location in Manchester.

The Recipe for Success program, administered by Helen Costello, began in May of 2008 at the Food Bank’s former location near the mills in Manchester. Now, with the opening of beautiful new headquarters on East Industrial Park Drive off of Candia Road, the students are working in a truly professional kitchen. In addition to heavy-duty stove tops and a pizza oven, there are several huge steam jacketed kettles that can tilt for pouring out the contents - perfect for soups, stews and chilis. The commercial ovens are used for preparing pans of lasagne and other one-pot meals that can be transported and reheated easily. An oven with a $5,000 price tag still attached was sitting idle. Chef McCarter says he is waiting for funds to get it installed, which will add to his production capabilities.

The gleaming new kitchen is impressive indeed, with blue ceramic tiles and lively tangerine-colored walls. Along one side of the kitchen is tiered seating for the students to observe and do any book and pencil homework. And there is plenty of that. Each student completes training for ServSafe certification. This certificate gives students a leg up - it saves employers the $200 it would cost to train an employee in standard sanitary practices.

The Recipe for Success classes run in eight-week sessions (260 hours) and students are taught the basics, enough to land them a job on the line or doing prep work. From there they are only limited by their ambition. Most executive chefs are willing to train eager employees to their professional standards. Students are also given additional training on social skills and résumé writing, along with a letter of recommendation when they graduate. There are no guarantees of employment but both Chef McCarter and Costello have relationships with potential employers all over the state.

So far, 101 students have passed muster and graduated. One recent graduate, John Ducharme, is now head chef at the newly opened Old Theater Restaurant & Tavern at 6 School St. in Peterborough.

The Recipe for Success program is free, though student receive a nominal stipend for transportation costs. Applicants need to be unemployed or underemployed. Student Cassandra Mackie of Manchester was a hairstylist but found it difficult work with a recent shoulder injury. “I was intrigued by owning my own catering business someday, and when this opportunity arose I jumped right in,” says Mackie. Wendy Duprat, also of Manchester, is a single parent and found the class listed on Craigslist. She says, “It makes me feel good that I am helping to feed homeless people and children good food. I have worked at school lunch programs in Nashua and know that kids don’t always make the right choices…”

To read rest of article online and for more information about how you can help: [3] http://www.nhmagazine.com/fooddrink/901088-106/class-action.html

Food Donations Welcome: The New Hampshire Food Bank will be at the Winter Farmers’ Market in Exeter, January 8, to accept food donations from consumers and vendors. Fresh foods are encouraged; consider buying extra potatoes, onions, root vegetables, or winter squash to donate so that all may share in our bounty of local foods. Donations of cash or canned foods are also welcome. In addition, Meadow’s Mirth Farm offers a 10% discount to shoppers looking to purchase for the food pantry — their carrots, onions and squash are great foods for donation. For more information about Saturday’s market in Exeter, please visit [4] www.seacoasteatlocal.org.