Oak Forest HS Culinary Students Prepare Muffins for Homeless

The Oak Forest High School Culinary Arts students got a chance to bake treats for families less fortunate, when they prepared cornbread muffins, blueberry muffins and brownies for churches that host the P.A.D.S. program in the Palos and Hodgkin locations.

Oak Forest High School Culinary Arts teachers Vicky Vogel and Mark Furstenau wanted to move away from what had always been done at the school. Traditionally, the culinary arts classes have whipped up a whole Thanksgiving feast which the class members consumed with great glee. The former Thanksgiving dinner involved turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie.

This year, the teachers decided to try something that focused students on others not as fortunate as themselves. “We wanted to try something simple and humble. The cold came so quickly in November that I worried about people I see walking on the streets at 7am. I see groups of mostly men and some families emerging from the PADS shelter in Palos,” said Vogel. She thought of the muffin idea because of the easy recipes and easy transportation of the finished muffins. Mark Furstenau agreed. “The fact that these were muffins with no icing made them very easy to transport, and the homeless families could store and take muffins for their trips down the road.”

The P.A.D.S. program provides beds and food to homeless families who need their assistance. Churches in the area rotate opening up and providing food, bed and shelter during the cold wintertime months. To donate or volunteer time for the Southwest Suburban PADS organization, please see the website: http://www.sspads.org/.