I decided to start a cooking/baking club because with Covid-19 I knew kids were bored and feeling isolated. I knew I would have to get creative and think outside the box. I enjoy cooking and baking and am pretty good at it, so I thought I could teach others to gain skills and feel confident in the kitchen.

I came up with the name St. Lorenzo’s Kitchen, because St. Lorenzo is the Patron Saint of Cooking. As legend has it, Lorenzo was a deacon in Rome and in charge of the material goods of the church as well as aiding the poor. When he realized he would be arrested like the Pope, Lorenzo gave away all of his money to the poor. The prefect wanted him to bring to the emperor all of the treasures from the church. Lorenzo gathered blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons. He told the prefect that, “These are the treasure of the Church.”