The day before Thanksgiving, as thoughts are turning to time with family and friends and, of course, holiday meals, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the work of Through the Kitchen Door, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation that teaches culinary skills to low-income youth and adults as a pathway to better careers and nutrition in their lives.
Last week, the Washington Times ran a piece on Leisel Flashenberg, co-founder of Through the Kitchen Door, and how she and her husband came to create the organization while living in Costa Rica.
The article states:
In one 24-hour period, she [Leisel] says, she catered for a French ambassador who complimented her work and also heard from a woman who had participated in a training program Ms. Flashenberg had established for local women to learn kitchen skills — enough so that some could earn a living.
The trainee told her: ‘Today I could pack up my children and leave the man who has been beating me for 25 years because I know now I can support myself.’
‘You can tell which one resonated with me the most,’ Ms. Flashenberg says. ‘The subtext became the curriculum of what we are doing today.’
A great story around the holiday that draws our appreciation not only to the value of a good meal in our lives, but in its ability to bring people together and nourish the soul.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications.
