Hi all! I’m excited for my news flash of the day…I’m now the Seattle Inspiration writer for Examiner.com! I’ll be featuring inspiring stories on a local and national news platform so it’s exciting stuff! The home link for my Examiner column is under My Links in the sidebar. Though my inspiring story ideas will cross-over between here and my column, the formats will differ and there will be lots of extras here, so stay tuned!
This post and my first Examiner column feature is near to my heart as it’s an amazing culinary apprentice program for youth called Worth Our Weight. Read on below about all the inspiring ways Worth Our Weight makes a difference in their community and thank you for visiting my site today!
Inspiring recipes for food and life at Worth Our Weight
There are good people, good food and good stories, with good fortune enjoying even one or two of these in a day. However if you are ever able to walk through the door of Worth Our Weight (WOW) cafe in Santa Rosa, California, you’ll be visiting a place that offers you all three. So here’s today’s good story about this very inspiring business.
Worth Our Weight Culinary Apprentice Program is a cafe and culinary education center offering a place for risk-challenged youth to find knowledge, training, camaraderie and working experience in the restaurant and related industries. WOW equally gives an excellent opportunity for customers to enjoy an inspiring dining experience and rave review food when they sit down at one of the tables. Everyone from chefs to staff come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, yet bond through the service of the restaurant business in working together to make it a success.
The WOW program was founded by Executive Director Evelyn Cheatham, a 25 year veteran of the food industry. While developing a culinary training program for incarcerated youth in Sonoma county, she found the transforming power that a focus for growing, cooking and eating good food could have for troubled teens. The idea for WOW was born and has since been giving life-changing experiences to crew and customers alike.
Innovative and successful programs have garnered WOW both local awards and national attention. In 2009 Evelyn Cheatham received the City of Santa Rosa’s Merit Award and was named Outstanding Community Service Individual. WOW then garnered national attention when it was featured on the hit Food Network show Diner’s Drive-In’s and Dives hosted by Guy Fieri. In fact, Mr. Fieri was so impressed with what the people of WOW were accomplishing, that through his foundation, he gave WOW a mobile mini-restaurant cart as an additional way for them to offer their foods to the surrounding community.
Worth Our Weight is an inspiring confirmation of the many different ways people can create and work together to make a difference in each-others lives and communities. Success stories such as theirs invite us all to consider what we can do to help and inspire others in our families and communities, as well as ourselves.
For the Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives blog and WOW video story featuring staff and customers visit their link at http://dinersdrive-insanddives.blogspot.com/California-Northern/WorthOurWeight or watch video only at http://www.youtube.com/WorthYourWeight/Gerrior.
For more about Worth Our Weight visit their website at http://www.worthourweight.org/.
Enjoy!
