Grace Community Kitchen

I've been keeping a secret.  I've taken on a new project this summer and I can't wait to tell you about it.   I spent several days debating about the right time to tell you about it and I finally came to the conclusion that there really is never going to be an exact "right" time.  So here goes - allow me to introduce to you the project that's demanded a big portion of my time and attention this summer - the Grace Community Kitchen. 

Let me start at the beginning.  I'm a proud member of Grace Church in Monroe and in 2017, the church purchased the original Monroe High School campus which was later used as an elementary school.  The school had been abandoned for almost a decade and let's just say - it was desperate for someone to breathe new life into it.  The very first time I stepped foot onto the future church campus - I was greeted by more than one wild animal who had taken up residence - inside the building. 🤣 

I could go on and on about the amazing transformation that's already taken place on this land and the exciting plans for the buildings that are still left to be renovated, but for the purposes of brevity - I'll stick to the building that I've been focused on - the cafeteria.   No surprise, right? 😅

The story about how this incredible space fell into my hands is truly extraordinary and an incredible testimony of how God moves in the most magnificent (and unexpected) ways.  At the risk of oversimplifying - let me just say that I felt the undeniable call of God to step into the role of spearheading this project and when He calls --- I answer.  Needless to say, I am both honored and humbled to be taking on this massive project.  Have I mentioned that, there is currently an active birds nest in the electrical box. 🐦😂

So what is the plan, you ask?  The plan is to convert this old school cafeteria ​into a Community Kitchen.  A functional, modern commercial kitchen space that will be available to members of the church and the community.   Plenty of cold storage, lots of prep space, dry storage lockers and commercial cooking equipment in a beautifully renovated and modern commercial kitchen space.  The perfect space for young entrepreneurs to launch their food business and established food venders to expand their offerings.  

This is all very exciting but I've still only told you half the story.😅 The cafeteria space is only a small part of the building.  The original lunch room, where presumably, the kids sat at long tables to eat their lunch, is going to be transformed into an event space.  The beautiful room is bathed in sunlight from the floor to ceiling windows on two out of three exterior walls.   Granted, most of the windows are broken right now, but if you can look past the boarded up windows, you will get a glimpse into the incredible possibilities of this space.  

The new rentable, event space will also be home to a beautiful and functional demonstration kitchen.  I feel like there is a need in our community for a dedicated space for teaching and educating people about the preparation of food.  A space created specifically for chefs and cooks to be able to use to share their talents and skills with others.  How cool would it be to be able to have cooking classes, right here in Monroe? 👩🏻‍🍳🥘

In case you couldn't tell -  I'm over the moon excited about this project. 🤣 I've never been a part of a journey quite like this one and I'm excited to share it all with all of you - right here on the blog.  I won't be blogging on a regular basis - but you better believe that I will be checking in with you and sharing any updates on the space.  Oh, be prepared for me to be asking lots of questions of my followers.  This is all new territory for me and I've got LOTS of questions. 😅

​So until next time - Ciao!