Teen Kitchen Project
Teen Kitchen Project
What we do
Teen Kitchen Project (TKP) was founded by current Executive Director Angela Farley after her own family experienced a life-threatening illness. In 2011 her son was diagnosed with cancer. During his treatment, friends and family brought home cooked meals to help keep Angela’s family nourished. After her son’s treatment was successfully completed, she made a commitment to help others as she was helped during her time of need. Founded in 2012, TKP provides home-delivered, medically tailored meals to individuals in Santa Cruz County. Meals are designed by an in-house Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Executive Chef, prepared by teen chefs who benefit from the opportunity to give back to their community while learning valuable workforce and life skills and delivered by volunteer adults who perform weekly wellness checks for meal recipients. Approximately 60% of teen chefs are employees, while 40% choose to volunteer. Organizational Mission and Values Mission: To build healthy communities through food. Values: • Work with Intention: Our actions and choices lead to the greatest positive impact. • Food is Love: The preparation and sharing of food allows our community to experience gratitude, compassion, connection, and serving those in greatest need. • Young People are the Future: Young people are intelligent, responsible, capable, creative, caring, and must be central participants in shaping our collective future. • Integrity Matters: We are committed to trust, respect, and honesty. Current Programs and Services TKP’s services include: • Meal Delivery Service: Clients are referred by healthcare providers. Professional chefs train employee/volunteer teen chefs in preparing, cooking and packaging meals for delivery. A Registered Dietitian evaluates meals to ensure they are in accordance with DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) guidelines and are diabetes-friendly (lower carb, no refined sugars). Meals are delivered for 12 weeks with the possibility of recertification for an additional 12 weeks with a doctor referral. • Nutritional Counseling: All clients receive individualized nutritional counseling sessions from a bilingual Registered Dietitian to discuss clients’ health goals in relation to their current diagnosis. • Teen Chef Program: Working under the guidance of experienced chefs, approximately 85 teen chefs per year (ages 14-18) learn how to prepare, cook and package meals for delivery. Teens gain the opportunity to give back to their community while learning about nutrition, teamwork, leadership and workforce skills.
Providing Service In
- Child Youth Services
- Education
- Food Nutrition
- Human Services