Last month we were celebrating the biggest grant in our history. We got busy planning and expanding our cooking and nutritional programs and were well on our way towards significantly improving health equity for the under-resourced youth of Oakland. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances originating with our funders, our grant has now been withdrawn. On top of this, our funder is unable to provide their last installment of a grant for 2022-2024. This was intended to cover classes in the fall, with our longstanding partner Franklin Elementary School, in Oakland, where we have been able to teach 90 kids per week. These classes have already been confirmed and paid for with several thousand dollars worth of grant money we believed would be forthcoming.

With the money from the new grant, we had planned to team up with an influential partner who had a reach that covered almost every school in Oakland, and now our plans have been curtailed.

Heartbroken and frustrated doesn’t even begin to cover it, so we are appealing to YOU, the backbone of our mission, to help us keep on making a difference in Oakland.

Schools rely on non-profits like ours to teach critical nutritional information. Childhood diabetes levels are rising alarmingly and a costly health crisis is looming. Without help, our youth, especially those in predominantly Black and Latinx communities, face a lifetime compromised by diet-related diseases. 

We have our partners and systems in place, we just need the financial resources, and we're motivated to push on if we possibly can. Please, please chip in to help us, if you are able, and spread the word.

Your gift will go straight towards helping kids in Oakland greatly improve their long-term health outcomes, and every penny counts. YOU have the power to make a real difference!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Wishing you a wonderful and healthy summer.

Did you know that we produce a personalized e-cookbook for every series of classes we teach at every school? They’re available for download on our website. This way, our students will always have access to the recipes they learned, plus other interested parties can use them too. Each book features class and recipe photos and also acts as a keepsake. They are put together by wonderful volunteers, and we’re so grateful for their ongoing help and time.

We’re delighted to have received a two-part grant from the West Marin Fund. The first grant funds a part time Program Manager. This will make it easier for us to reach those in need in West Marin, while nurturing our current partnerships, fostering new connections and identifying new funding sources for our classes. We couldn’t be more thrilled that this support from the West Marin Fund will help our students there to create a lifelong healthy relationship with food.

The second grant is a Community Enrichment grant and will allow us to teach two back-to-back classes for six weeks for up to 30 students and covers groceries, kitchen equipment, an assistant and teacher instruction time.

We’re excited to start our classes this fall and are so very grateful to the West Marin Fund for being part of the solution.

We’re thrilled to welcome Christine Atkins and Angela Trinh to our board. Both are long-time instructors and highly qualified.

Christine Atkins has been an educator in the Bay Area for over three decades and is currently the Creative Expressions teacher at Franklin Elementary School in Oakland. She develops curriculum that supports the growth of key socio-emotional learning competencies such as self-awareness; self-management; social awareness and relationship skills. Prior to this, she served as Health & Wellness Coordinator for the Making Waves Education Program where she developed curricula for workshops and classes, including eco-literacy, cooking labs and the community gardening program. Christine is committed to increasing community voice in, and awareness of, health justice and utilizing her strong organizational and managerial skills to support Bay Area Community organizations.

Angela Trinh is currently a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Stanford’s Sport Nutrition Department. She also has experience as a food service operations and food safety consultant and has worked in the food and beverages industry. She is a trauma-informed nutritional counselor, and has managed programs for medical nutrition therapy. While working with Kids Cooking for Life, she has had the honor to teach children in underrepresented communities as well as to mentor other instructors through the Together We Cook program. As she was raised by a single parent and wishes someone had taught her to cook at a young age, she aims to be instrumental in teaching the next generation.

There’s no healthier drink than water on a hot summer’s day, and it can be taken to a whole new level simply by infusing it with fruit and herbs. Our students are always amazed at how good it tastes. No added sugar necessary. This recipe shows you how to get the flavors just right. If you leave your infusion out in the sun for an hour or so the flavors blend even more quickly and thoroughly. Try grapefruit and raspberry or watermelon aqua fresca or experiment with your own pairings.