The Caravan

Westerville Community Center

The Caravan taught recurring in-person and virtual cooking classes at the Westerville Community Center

  • Develop safe cooking classes that followed COVID-19 procedures and aided participants in the transition from pandemic to post-pandemic gatherings
  • Provide classes the met the needs of all participants by recording monthly virtual classes while simultaneously teaching live cooking classes
  • Showcase the new kitchen

Pandemic Virtual Programming

The Caravan created a series of pre-recorded virtual programs to fit the needs of a nation under quarantine during the COVID 19 Pandmeic. These programs were used by schools, libraries, and daycares all around Ohio.

  • Create exciting, engaging programs that mirrored the energy of The Caravan’s in-person programs
  • Develop a wide variety of videos that represented the range of The Caravan’s traditional programming, including music and cooking programs for older and younger children
  • Present the videos in a simple, easy to use format that clients could access and present to their patron base from their own websites and social media platforms
Two men wearing name badges standin behind a table talking with a group of people.

Ohio Afterschool Network Sponsorship

The Caravan sponsored The Ohio Afterschool Network’s “Best Foot Forward” Conference

  • Connect with afterschool programs from around Ohio in order to create new partnerships
  • Expose new businesses and organizations to The Caravan’s 21st Century aftershcool program curriculum
  • Listen to the needs of attendees and factor it into new and current programming
Four high school students chopping something red while two chefs assist

Franklinton High School Cooking Class

The Caravan developed a semester-long high school cooking class that was taught as an elective at Franklinton High School (then called Franklinton Preparatory Academy).

  • Create a “recipe-based” class where students would prepare over 30 recipes in a semester
  • Teach students about “food entrepreneurism” and all the ways to earn a living in the food industry outside of a restaurant
  • Develop curriculum that teaches both life skills (cooking for one’s self and family on a budget) and occupational skills (learn about the service industry)
  • Teach kitchen safety techniques and food-born pathogen content that aligns with ServSafe standards and prepares students for ServSafe certification
  • Connect students with local restaurants for job opportunities
Six children sit at tables. Between them is another table covered with white paper. On top are watermelons, bowls and other utensils

Madison Health “Kids in the Kitchen” Series

The Caravan partnered with nutritionists from Madison Health to create a series of cooking classes for children that were held at the medical center in London, OH.

  • Address nutritional issues facing children today, such as childhood obesity and diabetes
  • Create simple, healthful snacks that the children could recreate at home
  • Collect data from participants to track the effectiveness of the program
Three kids use green, safety knives to cut vegetables

Columbus Parks and Rec Summer Nutrition programming

The Caravan provided a special Chef Battle series to select community centers during the summers of 2016 and 2017.

  • Provide an engaging and informative nutrition program to summer feed sites sponsored by Columbus Recreation and Parks.
  • Use only produce, seeds, and grains to promote different ways of preparing and eating fresh foods.
  • Excite and inspire children to get creative with their own meals.
  • Use entertainment to encourage children to try new fruits and vegetables.

Fresh Thyme Farmers Market Chef Battle series

The Caravan provided a special ongoing Chef Battle series to select Fresh Thyme Farmers Market grocery stores throughout Ohio.

  • Engage shoppers in the Battle, and use children as sous chefs whenever possible.
  • Use only ingredients found that day in the store.
  • Focus on creative flavor and texture parings to showcase the ingredients.
Two girls pour salt to a measuring spoon

Gladden House Private Lessons

The Caravan teaches quarterly cooking lessons for kids and teens at the Gladden Community House.

They received a Community Partnership Award from Gladden House in 2015.

  • Provide lessons focused on seasonal themes, using only ingredients from the Gladden Food Pantry.
  • Children participate in cooking, serving and cleaning up.
  • Teach the essentials skills for working in a kitchen, including safety techniques and terminology.

What's in the 'Fridge?

In partnership with Children's Hunger Alliance, Ohio Health and WOSU the Caravan wrote and performed in eight videos.

Each video focused on a different recipe, designed to be simple enough for a child to make.

  • Introduce basic cooking skills
  • Impart nutritional information
  • Empower children to make their own food
A chef stirs food in a saute pan, next to a pile of chopped mushrooms.

Mid-Ohio Foodbank

The Caravan planned and hosted a series of cooking demonstrations at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

  • Preparing 25 servings of each meal for distribution to local food pantries
  • Creating cooking lessons for each meal
  • Teaching the lessons to groups while preparing the meal
A chef holds a container of lettuce while students add ingredients to their meals.

Project Hope

The Caravan volunteered with Project Hope, a non-profit aimed at providing kids with constructive after school activities.

  • Providing guidance and mentorship to youth in the program.
  • Creating and producing both a 2 hour cooking class and music workshop for the 50 participants.