How to Become a Volunteer

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No Kid Hungry

Join the national movement of people committed to ending childhood hunger in America.

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Cooking Matters

Empowers families with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to prepare healthy and affordable meals.

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Great American Dine Out

Join us September 16-22, 2012 for the fifth annual Dine Out For No Kid Hungry!

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Great American Bake Sale

A national campaign that mobilizes Americans to end childhood hunger by holding bake sales in their communities.

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Culinary Events

Fine dining and tasting events that help make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.

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: Participant in Cooking Matters for Families class

Want to Share your Strength?

Cooking Matters is a non-profit organization that teaches nutrition education and hands-on cooking skills to low-income families. We also incorporate food safety and how to shop healthfully on a budget. We offer six curricula that are tailored to meet the needs of kids, teens and adults. We are currently recruiting volunteers to teach courses, serve as class assistants, grocery shop for our classes or act as a Spanish-language translator. Locations and times of courses vary throughout the week, so it is likely that we can accommodate your availability. Expect to volunteer one day a week for six consecutive weeks; depending on your volunteer position you can expect to volunteer 1-4 hours a week.

Professional Chefs or Nutritionists/Dietitians:

We need volunteers to teach classes one day a week for six weeks. The curriculum is provided, along with recipes. We love our teachers to bring personal flair/ ideas/activities to our classes as well. The Chef Instructor will teach the cooking portion of the lesson (approximately 1 hr) and the Nutrition Instructor will teach the nutrition lesson of the class (approximately 1 hour).

Other Volunteer Opportunities:

Class Assistant: We need volunteers to help divide groceries into take-home bags for each participant, assist the Chef in preparing recipes, and help to class set up and clean up (including some dishwashing).
Class Shopper: We need volunteers to grocery shop for our classes. This is done at your convenience and groceries are dropped off at the site of the class.
Translator/interpreter: We use bilingual (Spanish and English) volunteers in our classes to translate for the educators, participants, and the class coordinator when language barriers exist. We also need written documents translated from time to time.

These are great opportunities to add to your resume, reach out to your community, or simply gain valuable experience in a teaching environment.

"Chefanie" breaking down a whole chicken

Volunteer Positions and Requirements

Volunteer FAQ’s

The classes we offer are made possible by volunteers like you who want to share their strengths with the community. In 2011 we had over 462 volunteers contribute over 10500 hours to our program!

Volunteer Training and Orientation

The first step to volunteering with Cooking Matters is to register for an orientation by contacting Mayra Ramirez.
Upcoming orientations will be held at our officeon a bimonthly basis.
Next Trainings: Monday, April 16th, Monday, May 7th and Tuesday, May 22nd.
Learn how Cooking Matters is strategically structured in your community, what the volunteer roles and expectations are, and meet the staff.

“[The highlight of this course was] watching the class participants begin to make small changes and getting a sense that they felt empowered by the new information.”

- Volunteer Chef Instructor

“It’s great to see the smiles and hear the confidence in participants’ voices when a more nutritionally balanced meal is enjoyed by the family.”

- Volunteer Nutrition Instructor

“Before this class I never thought that healthy eating could taste so good, now I am sure that I will be using the recipes to cook healthy tasty meals!”

-Participant