What's Happening!
Traveling Adventures 2012
Every year Project Return takes its PASS group home residents on a couple of memorable trips. This year the spring trip was to Boston. The girls enjoyed a wonderful visit to the New England Aquarium and experienced some of the great seafood Boston has to offer. This summer the house took its annual trip to Cape Cod so the girls could experience a true "summer vacation". These adventures are great opportunities for teaching independent living skills, creating a sense of belonging, and exposing the girls to new cultures and history. |
Spring 2012: Trip to the Aquarium Boston MA |
Sunday Suppers
Our Sunday Suppers initiative was created to encourage healthy eating habits and foster community around the preparing and sharing of a meal. One Sunday a month, the chef and cooking coach, Carol Dannhauser Leonetti, brings our residents together for a culinary journey into new foods and cooking techniques. Girls learn important life skills like grocery shopping, proper chef hygiene, nutritional eating, food preparation, and table manners. Through this learning, they gain confidence and pride in their ability to create restaurant worthy food.
Exposure to different types of ethnic foods, such as our “Soul Food” Sunday, also promotes an appreciation of different cultures and flavors. Preparing and sharing a meal also produces great moments of “dinnertime” bonding and facilitates the sense of belonging that many of our residents have never experienced. Providing these “special” meals also helps our girls feel deserving and loved. One Sunday they were treated to a very special meal – lobster. Many of them had never had it before and were taught not only how to make it – but how to eat it as well. Not only did this event make them feel respected, but also taught them how to handle this delicious seafood.
Through these Sundays, Chef Carol also teaches the girls how important healthy eating is to their well-being. She consistently highlights the simplicity of choosing and making healthy foods and how easy it is to substitute a healthy alternative like crepes for classic kid favorites such as “Hot Pockets”. This program has had tremendous success in its first year and we are hoping to be able to continue it this coming year.
Recently Awarded Grants
A complete list of all of our generous foundation, community organization, business, and individual donors will be published in our upcoming 2012 Report To Our Supporters. Watch for it!
