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Friends in the Kitchen gets $3,000 grant from NUAF

The New Ulm Area Foundation (NUAF) awarded Community and Seniors Together (CAST) $3,000 Wednesday to continue the popular Friends in the Kitchen program.

NEW ULM – Community and Seniors Together (CAST) received a $3,000 grant Wednesday from the New Ulm Area Foundation (NUAF) to help continue the Friends in the Kitchen program.

Since July 2022, the New Ulm Community Center has hosted Friends in the Kitchen programming through CAST. Friends in the Kitchen is designed as a monthly cooking class for senior citizens. The program begins at 11 a.m., the second Wednesday of the month.

Instructor Rene Retzlaff said the classes are designed to teach healthy cooking and meal prep for people over 55. Retzlaff said the classes teach how to prepare meals for a single person, how to read food labels and how to make recipe substitutes for dietary needs. Retzlaff said some seniors need to make substitutions for salt intake or dairy tolerance.

Friends of the Kitchen was originally started through a grant from Alina Health and Lutheran Social Services (LSS). CAST was able to offer the program space in the community center.

Retzlaff said when she started teaching the class two years ago, she was not sure what to expect. Ten people attended the first class, but the program has grown significantly. Attendees are from all over Brown County, including some from Redwood Falls.

CAST program director Cara Knauf said there are seniors who attend every monthly class and some who request copies of the recipes when they miss a class.

Though the program is popular, funding it has become a challenge. LSS saw a cut to its funding and could no longer fund Friends in the Kitchen after November 2023. CAST received an anonymous donation to fund Friends in the Kitchen through 2024. NUAF’s $3,000 will provide partial funding for the program in 2025.

NUAF member Kathy Van Roekel said Friends in the Kitchen matched the foundations goal of funding education in the community.

Starting at $4.38/week.

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