Cooking Matters volunteers facilitate nutrition lessons, cooking demonstrations, and educational activities for cooking and nutrition classes in their communities.
About Cooking Matters at Home
These virtual classes combine cooking, nutrition, menu planning, budgeting, kitchen safety, and sanitation to community members experiencing food insecurity. Each Cooking Matters at Home class is led by a Solid Ground staff Community Food Educator and two Volunteer Facilitators who work together to facilitate fun, interactive, and informative online classes for participants. Volunteers co-facilitate educational activities, conversations about the food system, and cooking demonstrations.
Classes are held virtually via Zoom in partnership with community organizations like housing sites, health clinics, schools, and other service-providing agencies throughout Seattle.
Volunteer Facilitator Role
We’re looking for volunteers who are passionate about food, health, and sharing their passion with their communities. Training on virtual facilitation and course topics will be provided. Volunteers don’t have to have formal cooking or nutrition experience, but ideally they are home cooks. Black, Indigenous, and people of color, immigrants, and people with the lived experience of food insecurity are strongly encouraged to apply.
Time Commitment
- Classes meet virtually once a week for six weeks.
- Each week includes one two-hour class, and volunteers are asked to log onto Zoom 30 minutes before class begins and stay on 30 minutes after class to troubleshoot.
- All together for one course series, you will commit about 19 hours of volunteer time, in addition to any lesson planning and prep.
- We’re looking for volunteers who are interested and able to commit to actively volunteering in classes for one year.
Training
Volunteers must attend both Solid Ground’s New Volunteer Orientation and Community Food Education’s New Volunteer Training, and complete the volunteer application process, which includes passing a Washington State Background Check and obtaining Food Worker Card.
Qualifications
- Must be at least 18 years old. Email volunteers@solid-ground.org to find volunteer roles for people under 18.
- Interest or background in cooking and nutrition (no formal education required).
- Ability to share information about food in a nuanced, nonjudgmental way that centers food access, anti-racism, and anti-oppression.
- Willingness to uphold Solid Ground’s values about food and the Cooking Matters curriculum.
- In this volunteer role, you will work with staff, volunteers, and participants with a variety of racial, cultural, and class backgrounds, lifestyles, and sexual orientations. Volunteers must be open, compassionate, and understanding.
- Ability to give and receive feedback clearly and directly.
- Must be reliable when showing up to volunteer and clear when you need to be absent.
- Volunteers need stable internet connection and a device to use Zoom from. (Solid Ground can provide the volunteer a device for the duration of the class series if needed.)
