WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) – A culinary program at West Chester University is giving adults with disabilities the ingredients to be confident and independent.
The program, Ram Chefs, helps adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities learn to garden and cook.
Ram Chefs provides them with culinary instruction, nutrition education and food safety skills during the academic year in West Chester.
Every Wednesday, thirteen young adults with IDD from the community work with more than twenty volunteers in the university’s nutrition laboratory. The program’s mission is to increase self-confidence in young adults for the purpose of independent cooking and employment in the food service industry.
Since West Chester was on summer break, the program used their time this Wednesday to work in their community garden, where they grow produce used in the meals they cook.
CBS News Philadelphia
CBS News Philadelphia
CBS News Philadelphia
Olivia Riehl, one of 13 young adults in the program, said she is excited to be part of Ram Chefs.
“When I come to the program, I get so excited to see everyone. We have so much fun,” she said.
Jeanie Subach, program director of Ram Chefs, said these young adults learn more than just cooking and gardening, but they also develop social skills that she says will serve them throughout their lives.
“When you talk to their parents, they tell us it’s more than cooking, it’s the experiences they have and the relationships they develop,” Subach said.
Not only with each other, but also with students from West Chester University who assist as guides.
Ella Messner, who volunteers, said the relationship is beneficial for everyone.
“It makes me feel great and I just want them to know that they will always be able to do something,” Messner said.
And that’s what it’s all about: planting the seeds of success. Now Riehl and her colleagues have formed strong roots and are ready to move forward.
“Believe in yourself. Always believe in yourself and always follow your dreams,” Riehl said.
