Our culinary program and café, contract foods, and catering businesses teach our students how to safely handle food in a commercial kitchen, basic knife skills, food prep, meal assembly, and some basic culinary theory. Our life skills curriculum teaches our students how to open a checking account and manage their money, how to apply for housing, pay their taxes, and write a resume. In the simplest terms, the building blocks for independent living.

Culinary and life skills are only part of the equation. What we really want our students to achieve is a sense of confidence and purpose in life. We want our students to be resilient, to affiliate with positive peer groups, and to feel a sense of empowerment over their future. We want them to become self sufficient and employable, but most important, we want them to leave our program with a set of tools that will successfully take them anywhere they want to go. Some continue on in the world of culinary arts, others go on to college or other vocational training.

What we do, and what you support, changes lives, and for many of our students, this is their opportunity to nourish a new beginning. We are proud to be a part of that.

Jeremy Maxand
Executive Director

Idaho Gives is a day for philanthropy across Idaho — a day for nonprofits to tell their stories and share with you how their work enhances communities throughout our state. A day for Idahoans to come together with one voice of support for our nonprofits, big and small. A day for you to find your passion and share it!

Life’s Kitchen will be participating in Idaho Gives and sharing our mission of “transforming the lives of at-risk young adults by building self sufficiency and independence through comprehensive food service and life skills training, and placement in the food service industry” with Idahoans across the state!

Stay tuned for more information on Idaho Gives and how you can support Life’s Kitchen on May 2!

Today was a good Monday. Part of the morning was focused on job hunting and interview techniques as a component of the life skills curriculum. Our social worker led the discussion, peppered with some talk about positive thinking and thinking errors – mistakes we all find ourselves making at one point or another. From 12-3pm, our students participated in the “Cooking Matters” class organized by the Idaho Food Bank. This is a great program taught at the Life’s Kitchen facility, where folks who might find themselves on the receiving end of food bank grub learn how to transform it into nutritious – and most important – tasty food. In between it all, a few contract food deliveries were prepared and sent out the door.

By the time I made it to the kitchen, it was quiet, but busy. I’ve never been on the deck of a Navy ship, but I image that “swabbing the decks” would look a lot like what I saw. Students, paid only in the currency of a promise that this program will improve their lives, attacked the floor with mops and squeegees and drilled through a pile of dirty dishes and equipment. Not one complaint. Not a frown. It’s days like this Monday you know these students are going places.

Boise, ID

The foundation’s generous contribution will support Life’s Kitchen’s 16-week skills based training program for 16-20 year old young adults. In addition to the culinary arts, students learn basic life skills, such as personal finance, resume writing and job interview techniques, how to secure housing, preparing your taxes, and more.

“Whether it’s water access projects in developing countries, or life skills training for our youth at home, United Water makes smart investments to improve communities worldwide, and we are excited to partner with them on our ongoing program,” said Jeremy Maxand, Executive Director of Life’s Kitchen.  “The United Water Foundation grant will further the mission of Life’s Kitchen to help transform the lives of at-risk young adults, which in turn will strengthen our community for the long-term.”

United Water is one of the largest water services providers in the nation and this funding also includes employee contributions through their dedicated workplace giving program.

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ABOUT LIFE’S KITCHEN

Life’s Kitchen (www.lifeskitchen.org) is an innovative, non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of at-risk young adults by building self-sufficiency and independent living through a comprehensive food-service job training program, life skills training, and job placement in the food service industry. Life’s Kitchen supports its program with Custom Catering, a Lunch Café, a Contract Food business, and from private donations and community grants.

ABOUT UNITED WATER

United Water is one of the nation’s leading environmental companies, providing water and wastewater services to approximately 5.7 million people in the United States. In addition to owning and operating 20 water utilities, the company operates 100 municipal and industrial water and wastewater systems through innovative public-private partnerships and contract agreements. Founded in 1869, United Water is a subsidiary of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT.

“The ‘Read Me Treasure Valley’ event is a terrific way to learn about Idaho’s history,” said Jeremy Maxand, Executive Director of Life’s Kitchen. “We are excited to give folks a literal taste of Idaho’s past while showcasing the culinary skills of our students.”

The dishes will be offered during normal business hours in the Life’s Kitchen Lunch Café, Tuesday through Friday, from 11:30am to 1:00pm. Highlighted dishes include Southern Idaho Basque Soup, Skookum Minestrone Soup, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, Spaghetti in Clam Sauce, Salmon Quiche, and Beef Stroganoff. The community is invited to the Lunch Café to experience the cuisine that inspired Patrick McManus to write his book, and to celebrate “Read Me Treasure Valley.” The menu selections will run in the Life’s Kitchen Lunch Café February 5 through May 3. The weekly café menu is available online at www.lifeskitchen.org.

To learn more about “Read Me Treasure Valley,” go to www.readmetv.com!

Life’s Kitchen (www.lifeskitchen.org) is an innovative, non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of at-risk young adults by building self-sufficiency and independent living through a comprehensive food-service job training program, life skills training, and job placement in the food service industry. Life’s Kitchen supports its program with Custom Catering, a Lunch Café, a Contract Food business, and from private donations and community grants. 

January 25, 2013

For more information:
Martin Johncox, Alexander and Associates Public Relations, (208) 658-9100
Bill Martin, Metro Express Car Wash, (208) 870-0729
Jeremy Maxand, (208) 331-0199

Metro Express Car Wash has donated free car washes for a year for two vans used by Life’s Kitchen, a Boise nonprofit that helps teenagers and young adults learn life and job skills. Metro Express will install high-tech RFID stickers in the vans and give them their first washing at 2 p.m. on Thursday, January 31, at the downtown Boise Metro Express.

Doug Metzgar, board president for Life’s Kitchen, said the organization is thrilled to have the car washes.

“Our vans make dozens of pickups and deliveries a day to homeless shelters, schools and private catering events,” Metzgar said. “Because we’re teaching our students how to succeed in work, it’s essential our vans look clean and Metro Express’s gift will allow us to always present a professional face to the community.”

Life’s Kitchen provides a 16-week program for young adults ages 16-20. Students learn skills to make them employable in the food service industry by working in the Life’s Kitchen contract foods, catering, and café. Students are typically struggling with addiction, behavioral issues or a difficult past and they also learn life skills like health, interpersonal relationships, financial literacy, job interviewing and more.  Students may complete their GED and earn the ServSafe certification, an important accreditation that will help them find a job in the foodservice industry.

“Life’s Kitchen provides important services to help young people become productive members of society,” said Metro Express owner Bill Martin. “Metro Express washes many commercial vehicles and we are honored to keep their delivery vans looking sharp.”

The vans will have the same Unlimited Plan available to all Metro Express customers. A small RFID sticker is placed in the lower left windshield. When the car approaches the automated gate, the sticker sends a radio signal to the Metro Express computer, which opens the gate.  Unlimited Plan holders may wash their cars as frequently as they wish and the Metro Express locations in Meridian and Nampa have designated lanes for the convenience of Unlimited Pass holders. The stickers are unique to each car and are destroyed if removed. The Life’s Kitchen gifts have a total value of $420 per car.

Life’s Kitchen (www.lifeskitchen.org) can train up to 60 students a year, said executive director Jeremy Maxand. In addition to operating a restaurant, the students make between 50,000 and 60,000 meals a year and deliver them to  clients that include the Riverstone School, Allumbaugh House and the City of Boise Parks and Recreation After School Meals Program.

Metro Express (www.metroexpresscarwash.com), with locations in Boise, Meridian and Nampa, is the Treasure Valley’s leading automated car wash. Metro Express has raised $23,400 in cash over the past two years for local charities involved in art education, health clinics, sheltering the homeless and domestic violence programs. Metro Express annually gives away tens of thousands of dollars in free washes to veterans and for fundraisers for local clubs and charities. Its summertime Family Safety Day features a car show and car safety seat inspections provided by local agencies. Metro Express is on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare and Pinterest.

The board and staff are some of the most dedicated, thoughtful, and hard working people I have met. The commitment to helping the students at Life’s Kitchen is inspiring and a standard I will have to work hard to meet. To say these students are like family, while too often cliché, is true. Throughout the last week, I have traversed the kitchen and stopped to look and listen to the personal mentoring the chefs give each student, and it is impressive. The staff truly cares about the future of each and every student, and what is greater, so do the students themselves.

Those who volunteer, donate, or simply stop by for lunch on a regular basis to support the program are the rock of Life’s Kitchen. Without them, none of this would be possible. With them, for the students who walk through our front door every day, anything is possible.

The program works. While the vehicle is primarily culinary arts training, the ingredients of weeks of exposure to healthy relationships, examples of a hard and smart work ethic, trial by fire in an often high pressure environment, and learning how to communicate and resolve conflict, are what make the main dish served here the path to a successful life.

The food is incredible. No, I mean it. If you have not been to the café, you should. If you have not used Life’s Kitchen to cater an event, call us. We all know food made with love tastes great. Food made by young students who see a better future in ever chop, slice, and dice…the best.

Jeremy Maxand
Executive Director

Lots of new things have been happening at Life’s Kitchen since we last got together.  If we are any sort of measure, the non-profit world is just as dynamic as the for profit world, and over the last several weeks this is about one tenth of the activity to report.  It just so happens that the topics for this post make for a great tongue twisting title, so I went with them.

Little White Balls
On Thursday the 21st of June the good folks from K-HITS, and the Journal Broadcast Group hosted their second annual golf tournament benefiting Life’s Kitchen.   Hitting little white balls around at Ridgecrest in Nampa, the day was a lot of fun for golfers and LK!  First the bad news, the Fiat that tournament sponsor Dennis Dillon provided for the hole-in-one contest went unclaimed, though one golfer did come within two feet, landing pin high.  The good news was a bunch of new people were introduced to Life’s Kitchen.  A lot of golfers, though familiar with the name, got a chance to learn more about the work we do here each day.  To us it was a win/win.  A great big thank you to K-Hits for making us the beneficiary of their tournament!

Big White Walls
There used to be another non-profit next door to us, the Jesse Tree.  They offer emergency rent assistance to those facing eviction, and handle a good bit of case work.  They do some contract work for the Catch program through the City of Boise.  Well they moved, and guess who took over their space?  We moved into three new offices, and added a reception counter.  It feels pretty big league to us, but the real gift was the additional classroom space.  For years we have used a very small space that was a crowded, ill-equipped class room.  A group of employees from Windermere Realty, led by Ed Sperry, came into our digs to help us out.  They painted, they cleaned, they organized, and generally made our new-to-us space look not so purple!  We all had so much fun that Windermere is poised to be a new long-term partner for LK.  We are grateful for the new fresh paint on the walls, but we are really excited to have some new friends we can call on.  Thank you Windermere; for the first time in four years I have an office with an actual door!

Tri-tipping Our New Trailer
This coming Monday the 25th of June Life’s Kitchen will have an early morning.  We have been invited to Ch. 2 for a 6:30AM broadcast that will have our new trailer on site!  That is good news because Chef Chris Henderson and I will be there cooking up some Tri-tip with black bean and corn salsa, while talking about Life’s Kitchen.  I can’t prove it, but I think the original quote from Bill Kilgore in the movie “Apocalypse Now” was actually “I love the smell of tri-tip in the morning.”  I’d always heard the editors had to add that to the cutting room floor as they felt that tri-tip, and war movies didn’t fit together like they had hoped.   Bummer.

If you have made it this far into the blog, congratulations!  I was going to offer you a parting gift, like a bunch of letter Z’s.  I just don’t use them very often, so I have a bunch to freely hand out.  I end up hitting the “shift” key with my pinky finger instead.  Now that both you and I know you just checked your keyboard, lets just end with a little Friday afternoon chuckle.  Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

The Maiden Voyage of the SS Life's Kitchen

Life’s Kitchen joined the new and exciting era of concession trailers that hit the Treasure Valley not long ago. May 20th marked the maiden voyage of the S.S. LK when we participated in the Pig-a-Palooza event in downtown Meridian. The trailer (pictured), is a long one, at some 25 feet. The team put together jerk pork, and pork tacos that blew our collective doors off! The idea for us is pretty simple, our students need to have training opportunities to improve skill building, the large scale production the trailer offers fits nicely, and the customer service our students need to prepare for the work force is a great bonus as well.

There are some people we need to thank because without the community support we received, this project just wouldn’t have been possible. The granting agency that provided the funding prefers not to be publicized, but know that we are extremely grateful for their help! Dowdy’s Automotive should also be thanked as we store our trailer at their Federal Way location.

The folks from CH2M Hill, specifically Pam Brewer and Clay Cirino, donated a lot of time and expertise to the project, as well as good old fashioned elbow grease! Thank you very, very much!

The Rotary Foundation also deserves a round of applause because they helped pay for the logo work that Catapult3 installed for us. The look we have is really nice, and we are excited about the way it turned out!

The concession trailer is a real asset for Life’s Kitchen. It gives us an opportunity to get out into the public to provide great food from our students as well as helping pave their way to a future that is productive and healthy. As I mentioned, the food is great, but the training it provides for our students is the best reason to have the trailer. The next time you see us rolling down the road, give a wave and honk to show your support. When you see us at an event near you, stop by to say hello, and have a plate of the some of the best food around, made by our students. We appreciate your valuable support!