Our Partnership Model

Cooking Matters Colorado collaborates with hundreds of community-based organizations throughout the state to offer group education around feeding young children, print and digital resources to bring education to parents and caregivers outside of group settings, and technical assistance for organizations implementing policy, systems and environmental changes. We look to partner with organizations serving an audience of parents and caregivers who have children ages 0-5 years old and are working with a limited food budget. Participants in Cooking Matters programming often receive SNAP, WIC or other food assistance.

Some examples of our partnerships include Head Start centers, WIC clinics, food pantries, corner stores and family resource centers. In this partnership model, we work with you to learn your organization and client needs and work together to provide educational resources and organizational supports that meet those needs and are exciting to join. All our group education sessions and additional supports focus on overcoming common challenges related to saving time and money while feeding young children, as well as tips and tricks for feeding picky eaters.

Our Participants

We run our programs with parents and caregivers, especially those with young children ages 0-5. We see the caregivers we work with as experts in their own lives and value their insights. We learn from them as much as they learn from us.

“I am now more aware. I love that I can do these recipes with my kids. I feel great knowing what’s good to buy at the grocery stores. It’s a big step in the right direction for my family and myself. I feel motivated to be healthy and involve my kids. I’m sad to have the course end, but I’m happy to take with me so much knowledge.”
– Madeline, Cooking Matters Graduate

Where Do Our Programs Take Place?

Our focus is on meeting participants where they live, work or play. Our online programs are held through Zoom where one of our staff members facilitates a highly interactive session, including cooking demonstrations. Our programs are all designed to have parents and caregivers sharing their own experiences and expertise.

Our in-person programs are held at a partner organization’s site, as we do not have a central location where programming operates. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, please reach out to Cooking Matters Colorado to learn about our current in-person programming offerings.

Why Would My Clients Want to Participate?

In addition to connecting with other families and learning how to save time, save money, and how to deal with all the challenges that come with feeding young kids, participants will receive either a $10 gift card or $10 value in physical groceries for participating in each lesson. Gift card options include: electronic gift cards OR physical grocery gift cards (most commonly King Soopers and Safeway). All participants will receive digital follow-up resources via email.

Will families that speak a language other than English be able to participate?

Our staff can offer programs in English, Spanish or both.

Can You Help with Recruitment?

We offer pre-made flyers, social media images and pre-written text messages to assist in your recruitment of parents and caregivers of children 0-5 into our interactive educational sessions

Is There a Financial Commitment?

The costs associated with implementing our educational sessions are covered by our supporters, but Cooking Matters asks our partners to consider sharing some of the programming costs, if able. No organization will be turned away if unable to contribute to a shared programming cost. It is important to note that participants in Cooking Matters sessions cannot be charged for attending.

Every partnership is a little bit different – we look forward to discussing your unique needs. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our staff to begin this important discussion