Class Assistant

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Cooking Matters Volunteer Class Assistant/Shopper

Position Summary:

Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters(r) is a cooking-based nutrition education course that empowers low-income families how with the confidence and skills to prepare healthy, tasty meals on a limited budget. Professional chefs and nutrition educators volunteer their time and expertise to lead hands-on courses that show adults, teens, and kids how to purchase and prepare nutritious foods in healthful, safe, and tasty ways. This can mean the difference between feeding families for just one night and making sure they have the knowledge, skills, and resources to prepare healthy meals for a lifetime.

Cooking Matters(r) courses meet for two hours, once a week for six weeks and are team-taught by a volunteer chef, nutrition educator and classroom assistant. Lessons cover meal preparation, grocery shopping, food budgeting and nutrition. During each class participants cook a healthy recipe, and share a meal together. Through this they practice fundamental food skills including proper knife techniques, reading ingredient labels, and making a healthy meal for a family of four on a $10 budget. Adults and teens take home a bag of groceries after each class so they can practice the recipes taught that day.

Instructors are supported with a myriad of resources from Cooking Matters(r) including an Instructor Guide with established curriculum including lesson plans, activity’s, worksheets, and recipes.

Class assistant volunteers are needed to facilitate classes in two ways:

• Manage onsite or offsite class preparation including but not limited to: shopping for food needed for the cooking lessons, and preparing grocery bags that adult students take home each week.
• Manage class materials, including food, supporting the volunteer instructors, helping with set up and clean up and working with students as needed.

Cooking Matters support volunteers are expected to actively participate as a teaching team member.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Interest in working with low-income individuals with diverse backgrounds, as well as the Cooking Matters mission
• Dedication to helping alleviate hunger and poverty
• Ability to lift 20 pounds
• Ability to travel to class locations
• Willingness to work as a team and adhere to program policies and procedures
• Ability and willingness to communicate with Cooking Matters coordinator during the weeks of active volunteering.

Time Commitment

• Assisting class: 3 hrs/wk for duration of class series, plus travel time to and from class locations
• Option, shopping for class: Approx 1 hr/week plus travel time
• Training: Orientation, class observation, ongoing training as needed

TO APPLY: Please contact Maria Smith , Cooking Matters NH Program Coordinator at 603.669.9275 x 1133 or msmith@nhfoodbank.org