Basic knife skills, baking and stove-top cooking are among the topics Manor’s Refuge Church plans to cover in its latest community outreach program.
The church, located along Broadway Avenue, is launching a series of free cooking lessons to teach community members how to prepare healthy meals for their families. The first lessons will take place 10 a.m. to noon May 3 and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 5.
Church attendee Shannon Hach thought of the idea while volunteering with Refuge Boutique, a free clothing store started in 2017. The boutique is housed in a former school building across the street from the church.
A few times a year, the church gives baskets of fresh, nonperishable foods and a few recipe cards to boutique shoppers.
“We realized that families are busy, parents are busy and they are looking for more budget-friendly ways to provide healthy food for their families,” said Hach, of Manor. “And I’ve realized over the last 20 years there has been a loss of some of those basic skills, like cooking, because of our cultural shift toward convenience.
“But that comes at a cost,” she said, “and usually that cost means prepackaged, unhealthy foods.”
The first lesson will teach attendees basic knife skills, sauteing and stir frying. Hach aims to host additional lessons in the future on preparing baked goods, main courses, casseroles, pasta dishes, side dishes, soups, salads and snacks.
The classes will be tailored to people of all cooking abilities, said volunteer Dianne McMaster.
“We were practicing this week, and I actually learned two different things that I didn’t know before and I’ve been cooking for a long time,” said McMaster, of North Huntingdon.
But Hach hopes the class does more than teach cooking skills.
“At Refuge Church, our goal is to be able to serve our community by connecting with people, developing relationships and strengthening our community,” she said.
“We see this as a way of making some of those connections, and as a part of that, our goal is to be able to reveal God’s character to others. He loves deeply, and that’s part of our goal.”
McMaster is an example of that goal, having volunteered at the boutique for about a year and a half.
“It’s very much a blessing to find this group and this community,” she said. “All the people that I have interfaced with that work in the Refuge Boutique or the church, they really just want to help people.”
Each class will be limited to eight people. To participate, complete the form linked on the Refuge Church Boutique Facebook page by April 28. Child care will be provided.
Future classes will be posted on Facebook. For more information, email info@churchrefuge.com