The Stratford District Secondary School culinary club is partnering with Stratford community services for the second annual Holiday Feast program.
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The Stratford District secondary school culinary club and Stratford community services are once again partnering to cook and deliver as many as 160 hot three-course meals to Stratford residents and locals in need on Christmas Eve.
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Last year, the inaugural Holiday Feast program saw student chefs and the club’s leaders, chefs and teachers, Paul Finkelstein and Andrew Mavor, cook up nearly 140 Christmas Eve dinners, roughly half of which went to paying customers with the proceeds paying for dinners for people in need.
“When I heard (last year) that the culinary club was starting up again (after COVID shut it down), I was so excited,” club member Brigitte Britton said. “This was one of the first things we did in the year, and I think it was a mood-booster because we got to help the community during a tough time because it was the first Christmas with COVID. It was nice to put something into the community and also have a fun time doing it. ”
The menu for this year’s holiday feast includes a roast chicken leg and thigh, with a thyme and white-pepper rub, creamy mashed potatoes, brown sugar and sage carrots, traditional stuffing, gravy, and ginger cake with cream-cheese icing.
“I just like cooking and making food, and I’m looking forward to helping people get (a hot meal),” said Maxwell Luk, who will help cook with his fellow club members in the school’s Screaming Avocado restaurant kitchen on Dec. 23 and 24.
Those who purchase a $ 30 meal for themselves are also buying one that will be donated to a local charity that will help distribute meals to the people it helps or to a specific person in need identified by the purchaser. Residents also have the opportunity to donate to the Holiday Feast without a purchase to ensure as many people in need get a hot meal as possible.
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Once they’re ready, Stratford’s community services department will arrange for drivers to pick up the meals at the school for delivery from 2 pm to 4 pm on Dec. 24.
“We recognize it’s been a tough couple of years for everyone,” said Stratford recreation and marketing manager Brad Hernden. “Giving the gift of food and paying forward a second meal simultaneously is a unique and generous way to give this season.”
Having previously cooked dinners with the culinary club to benefit a number of local and international causes, both Finkelstein and Mavor said it’s important for their club members to understand the importance of giving back through their cooking.
“It’s something we’ve always done over the past however many years. It’s always been community based, ”Finkelstein said. “Hopefully, it’s to have the kids know that food is a right not a privilege, and doing something like this is something we should be doing. We should always be giving back and supporting our community, and hopefully that’s something we’ve ingrained in our students. ”
For more information and to purchase a meal, visit www.stratford.ca/en/play-here/holiday-feast.aspx .