This week, we lost a beloved member of our community – Liesel Flashenberg. Liesel was a light and an innovator in the community, and with her husband, Daniel, blended community engagement, career development, and social entrepreneurialism together in the creation of Through the Kitchen Door.
Dedicated to empowering recent immigrant and low income adults and at-risk youth, Through The Kitchen Door designs training programs to enhance and support increased self-esteem, self-confidence, knowledge and skills. The hands-on cooperative training techniques create an aspirational environment encouraging and enabling healthy life choices, improved family stability, success in school, professional advancement and active community involvement. (To learn more about the programs of Through the Kitchen Door, please visit http://www.kitchendoor.org.)
Liesel was at the heart and helm of the organization since its founding in 1999 until news of a cancer diagnosis earlier this year shifted her priorities.
Through the Kitchen Door has been a long-time Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation’s, and Liesel a long-time hero. TTKD joined The Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner community in 2006 after receiving a grant from the Rainmakers Giving Circle to work with teen girls as change agents in their homes in creating healthy meals. In 2008, the organization was recognized with a Leadership Awards for its work and innovation in health and safety.
No one who has met Liesel can deny that she was a formidable force. She brought to her battle with cancer, the same fighting spirit that she brought to her work with women and girls in our community. Her passing is certainly a loss, but it is important not to let the passing of a community beacon dampen our spirits. Instead, let it ignite our actions. In Liesel’s honor, I invite you all to do the following:
- Celebrate your achievements – even the little ones. In our efforts to make change, it is so easy to lose sight of the progress we’ve made. Life is too short and time too precious to lose sight of the wonderful work that people do each day in their own way. We must take the time to celebrate these.
- Dare to dream! Like many labors of love, Through the Kitchen Door began out of Liesel and Daniel’s great adventure. The passion and daring to be bold and pursue our dreams is the life-blood of our community.
- Finally, a request from Liesel herself – especially for those of you with young children or grandchildren: “HAVE MORE FAMILY MEALS. There is simply nothing more important.“
The tremendous impact of the work of Through the Kitchen Door means that though Liesel may be gone, she will never be forgotten.
Liesel, thank you for who you were and all you have done. We will miss you, but we all carry a little bit of your torch onward.
