A feast for 33 families: WCTC students prepare annual Thanksgiving dinners

“You don’t get a chance to work on something like this by yourself, so it’s a great way to work with others and give back. Serving others fills your heart with love.” -- Maria Lino, Baking and Pastry Management student

The kitchens at Waukesha County Technical College are abuzz this week as Culinary Management and Baking and Pastry students carry on a 14-year tradition of community service, making Thanksgiving brighter for local families.

Under the direction of instructor Chef Jack Birren, students are preparing complete, holiday dinners – enough for 33 families (or 130+ people). The recipients of this year’s meals include 20 WCTC student families and 13 families living in the Habitat for Humanity Domenica Park subdivision, a neighborhood the College knows well, as students in the Building Trades-Construction program assisted with home construction there a few years ago.

Dozens of students have been busy practicing the skills they are developing in their Principles of Food Preparation, Culinary for Bakers and Garde Manger classes.

Making the meals requires significant planning: students cook and prepare full dinners from scratch, complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls, glazed carrots and pumpkin pies (made by second year Baking and Pastry students).

On Wednesday, College leaders, including deans, associate deans and members of WCTC’s President’s Executive Cabinet, will join students, faculty, staff and other volunteers to package the meals and get them ready for pick up and drop off. All meals include reheating instructions so families can enjoy a delicious holiday feast.

A Commitment to Service

Beyond teaching students about large-scale food production, Birren uses this tradition to instill a core value: giving back. It also allows him to reflect on some of his own past experiences.

“This project is deeply personal to me. I know what it feels like to struggle during the holidays, and that experience guides my commitment to this work,” Birren said. “Fourteen years later, preparing these meals with my students for families on our campus and in our community remains one of the most meaningful things we do. If we can give even one family a moment of relief or a positive memory during a difficult time, every hour of planning, cooking and coordinating is worth it. I want my students to understand that our efforts go beyond preparing a meal — they are about giving back in a meaningful way, offering hope, compassion and comfort, and creating lasting, positive memories.”

The importance of giving back to a community

Two Culinary for Baking students, Moriah Cooper and Maria Lino, spent Monday chopping vegetables, fruits and other foods and prepping ingredients for stuffing. While both students said participating in this project gave them insight about how to cook and prepare food at high volumes, more importantly, it has been an opportunity to help others.

“Being able to give back to a community that helps so many is nice,” Cooper said. “I like that we are able to help students but also people in the community.”

Lino said she enjoys service learning, and in doing so through her classes, she’s able to help a greater number of people.

“You don’t get a chance to work on something like this by yourself, so it’s a great way to work with others and give back,” she said. “Serving others fills your heart with love.”

Generosity from donors

The annual Thanksgiving project would not be possible without generosity of donors, including Stuart Schroeder, WCTC Foundation legacy member, who provided turkeys; Performance Food Service, one of the College’s purveyors, who donated and discounted several products needed for Thanksgiving sides; the WCTC Foundation, through the Mary & Bill Poehls Advised Fund, for paper goods, utensils, coloring books and crayons; among other contributors.