MILFORD, Del. - Lunchtime got a little spicy in Milford on Wednesday as the Food Bank of Delaware Bistro served up a Mexican-themed lunch of enchiladas, carne asada, as well as rice and beans.
But the Food Bank's professional chefs weren't the ones serving up the frijoles negros con arroz.
This spring started the first class of The Kitchen School at the Food Bank of Delaware's Milford campus.
Cooking classes are nothing new at the Food Bank, but Executive Chef Tim Hunter said they found a gap in their educational offerings.
"We were working with kids ages 16 to 24, but we were like, what about the adults who have the same disability?" Hunter said. "So we decided, The Kitchen School."
In contrast to The Culinary School, which teaches skills to the age 16 to 24 group, The Kitchen School teaches older adults with disabilities culinary skills with the goal of placing them in paying jobs.
The course is 12 weeks long, with eight weeks in the Food Bank of Delaware's kitchen, and four weeks learning on real job sites.
The aspiring chefs are passionate about cooking, and The Kitchen School Chef Instructor Shalisa Alexander has discovered their disabilities are no handicap.
"They want to work, they're excited about working," Alexander said. "They beat me here this morning, ready for work. They're just a great group of individuals."
Victoria Rust, a student that The Kitchen School said that working in a kitchen is a team effort that takes more than just cooking skills.
"We have a girl, Lashonda, she's deaf, so some of us have been learning sign language just to communicate with her," Rust said.
Student Kayla Strohmeyer, who hopes to start a food truck with her best friend, says The Kitchen School is an empowering experience.
"I love working here because it makes me a confident chef, a strong independent woman, [which] I am, and I love it because it makes me happy," Stroehmeyer said before enthusiastically welcoming new guests to lunch.
The chef instructors also mentioned that many of the folks who finished this program up in Newark, where several classes have already graduated, are now working in jobs making $16 an hour and more.
The Kitchen School will host another luncheon, this time Italian-themed, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 24, 2023 at Food Bank of Delaware Bistro located at 1040 Mattlind Way in Milford, Del. The event is open to the public, and costs $5 per person. Proceeds from the luncheon support scholarships for the Food Bank's culinary training programs.
To learn more about the Food Bank of Delaware, visit fbd.org.