Volunteer with Kids Kitchen!

The DTES Neighbourhood House is looking for volunteers to assist with our Kids Kitchen program on Fridays from 3:30-6:30pm starting on either Friday January 10th, 2025.

Kids Kitchen provides fun, enriching, cooking classes for up to 13 children aged 6-12, every Friday afternoon. Through this program—which runs in 12-week cycles—our young participants develop a wide repertoire of cooking and kitchen-safety skills and learn about food-related topics, including nutrition, meal-planning, food-safety, and cultural diversity. The main dish and dessert recipes are chosen every week by the participants, with assistance from staff. Sessions end with a group conversation reflecting the individual children's interests, curiosities, and cultural backgrounds. The term wraps up with an exciting food related field trip. Recent examples have included Science World, and the Vancouver Christmas Market. In addition to the practical skills and knowledge that children acquire through our Kids' Kitchen Program, participants also develop a powerful sense of competence and agency regarding their food and nutrition. Like all DTES NH programs, Kids' Kitchen sessions are positive, community-building events, set in a safe and nurturing space.

VOLUNTEER DUTIES
Volunteers duties include: guiding kids through the cooking workshop and supervising their safety and well-being; prep for and participate in art projects; after-meal clean up.

ASSETS
We ideally seek volunteers who have the ability to apply creative problem solving, have experience working with children and youth, and have experience with food handling and preparation. Some other valuable assets include:
- lived/living experience in the DTES
- work/volunteer experience in the DTES
- ability to speak multiple languages

REQUIREMENTS
We require a minimum 12-week commitment for this position. Kids Kitchen volunteer applicants will undergo a 30min phone interview/screening call and a vulnerable sector check (free). The volunteer will need to come 30min early on the first day for a Kids Kitchen orientation. Other requirements include:
- understanding and support of the DTES Neighbourhood House's mission and philosophies
- ability to work respectfully with people of diverse backgrounds and experiences
- openness to learning from and honouring community members
- ability to work as a team and help each other
- reviewing our Kitchen Safety Training Materials and select parts of our Volunteer Handbook before the first shift

APPLYING:
If you are interested please send us an email at volunteer@dtesnhouse.ca. We would love you to join our team and help us prepare a meal for our community.

ABOUT THE DTES NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE:  
Our mission is to provide opportunities for residents to meaningfully engage with and contribute to their community in an equitable atmosphere of sharing and learning. The secular, grassroots Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House (DTES NH) embraces people of all ancestries, genders, ages and descriptions; annually welcoming almost 9,000 DTES residents in a community where 70% of our neighbours have low‐incomes, 700 are homeless and 5,000 are under-housed.  Those who built the DTES NH put the Right to Food at the heart of our work, as nutritional vulnerability was a theme familiar to all. Our goal around the Right to Food is to reform the nutritional impact, quality, abundance and delivery of food in the DTES in consultation with residents, community food providers, non‐food community organizations, healthcare professionals, policy makers, growers/suppliers, food/beverage industry professionals and researchers. Learn more about our organization & programs at dtesnhouse.ca The DTES NH acknowledges and honours the fact that our community lies within the Unceded Territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.