Baking and Making a Difference
The eighth graders in the Home and Career Skills classes at East Meadow’s
Woodland Middle School are learning that hunger exists on Long Island. Using their cooking knowledge, and the skills they learn in class, they are on a mission to address that real need in the community. “Through this project, students are made aware of the fact that hunger does exist on Long Island. Most students are eager to help out and do community service, but many times they don’t know how to go about it,” shared their teacher Susan Carlsen.
Every quarter, a new group of students prepare, bake and package muffins for the Interfaith Nutrition Network (the INN), a soup kitchen in Hempstead. The package of muffins are placed on a tray of hot food the guests will receive, and, for many, it may be part of the only meal they will have for the day. Student Brooke M. said, “Making the muffins was a small thing to do, but it has a huge impact on someone who is hungry and we had fun doing it.” Kaylee W. added, “I love to cook and bake, so it was nice to use those skills to help people in need.”