Sixteen-year-old Lily Cabrera had a big job to do.
Five weeks into her summer internship at Teen Kitchen Project in Soquel, California, the Santa Cruz High School student was chopping and prepping 42 pounds of broccoli.
About 12 other teens were doing similar tasks in a spotless kitchen, preparing fresh, nutritious meals for Santa Cruz County residents who are either too chronically ill to leave their homes or recovering from a recent surgery.
“I think the idea of volunteering to help people is very cool,” said Cabrera, who will be a senior this fall. “I just like it, and it’s helping me think of career options. Plus, I needed something to do over the summer.”
For 13 years, the Teen Kitchen Project has hosted teen interns to help prepare meals for 325 clients a week. The organization recently received a $95,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente to further its mission to improve the health of communities it serves.
Kitchen Manager Alexis Keith said she loves seeing the junior chefs learn and excel.
“Watching them build their confidence and skills over a very short time is just amazing,” said Keith.
In addition to bringing clients food, the drivers’ interaction with them serves as a welfare check because they may not have seen another human being all week, added Keith.
Founder and Executive Director Angela Farley started the program when her 3-year-old son, now 17, got a rare form of lung cancer. Shopping for and preparing nutritious food while taking care of a sick toddler was nearly impossible. A former teacher, she decided to help others who are in the same predicament.
“I wanted to learn how to get people food who were sick,” said Farley. “I would work as a teacher during the day, then I would cook with friends in a commercial kitchen after school. For our clients, we’re taking one thing off their backs during a stressful time. And we’re giving teens a tangible way to change the future.”
Teen Kitchen Project clients are referred to the organization from local physicians, said Farley. Last year 1,061 clients received meals, and she hopes to do more this year. The most common illness among clients is chronic diabetes, followed by cancer, she said.
“I really enjoy doing this,” said Farley. “Sometimes I go out and meet the clients in person and when I talk to them, I hear the gratitude in their voice. They sometimes say they feel the love in the food, and that is really energizing.”
