Culinary Arts Students Prepare Meals For Those Facing Challenging Times

Nicolet College Culinary Arts students recently spread some holiday cheer by preparing and distributing 125 meals to those in need. 

The students in the Catering class took on the endeavor as their final project of the Fall Term, delivering meals to both Fredrick Place, a transitional living home in Rhinelander, and Kinship of Tomahawk, which provides free food for families. 

While preparing that volume of food might seem daunting, Culinary student Maja Holcomb said the rewarding experience went quite smoothly. 

“It made it a lot easier knowing that what we were doing was for a good cause,” Holcomb said. “All of us were in a good place that day when we were putting everything together. It was really meaningful to know that the food we were preparing was going to feed people going through difficult times.” 

For their final class assignment the students were responsible for completing all aspects of the project from start to finish, said Vicki Mendham, Nicolet Culinary Arts instructor. 

“One of the first steps they had to do was come up with an idea for their final project,” Mendham said. “I found it really kind of touching that all of them really rallied around this idea of helping others, especially during a pandemic. They came up with the idea, did all of the planning and preparation, and then delivered the meals. And overall they did a fantastic job. 

The meal consisted of a deconstructed lasagna dish of pork, beef, cheese and farfalle pasta as the entrée along with homemade garlic rolls and lemon bars. 

In a typical year the students would prepare the meal and then also serve it a local establishment, usually a business that would pay for the service. 

But this year, in light of the pandemic, that model was not possible. 

“We did have to think outside the box a little bit,” Holcomb said. “When we contacted Frederick Place and Kinship to see if they would be interested in something like this, both were very excited and grateful. We know that there are a lot of people out there who need help and it was very rewarding for all of us to step in and help any way we could.” 

In the photo above: Nicolet Culinary Arts students Brandon Macklem, left, and Maja Holcomb load up trays of beef, pork, cheese and farfalle pasta to deliver to Frederick Place in Rhinelander and Kinship of Tomahawk.