— from Trillium Swanson —
Caitlin Leck and fourth-grader Piper Shaepe have been a part of the Funhouse Mentor Program since 2016. This September, Caitlin sat down with Piper to hear her perspective on what it’s been like to hang out together so far. This is what Piper shared:
“We started pretty much just talking and hanging out and making plans. Then we started cooking. First we made Annie’s mac n’ cheese. I perfected the cheese sauce. Once we got that down, we upped our game and made baked mac n’ cheese with bread crumbs, peas, and extra cheese. Then we started to make food art, aka gourmet dessert, aka fruit platter mosaics.
“I think one of the main things we like to cook, and our favorite, is NY Times Mac n’ Cheese. This recipe came from my family’s recipe collection, our favorite cookbook that we use every day, especially birthdays. Caitlin and I made the mac n’ cheese totally from scratch and it came out delicious!
“One of the next things we want to do is harvest apples from Caitlin’s friend’s orchard. Then we can make apple brownies, without too much sugar! (There’s no chocolate in these brownies). We are also going to practice canning apple sauce.
“I would say that if you don’t have a mentor, I would recommend a mentor! Then you have someone to hang out with on your own time who has the same interests as you. Thank you, or danke shaen if you’re German :)”
As part of The Funhouse Mentor Program, Piper and Caitlin meet up about once a week, and do a variety of activities together. Over the past year and a half, they have found a common love in cooking, and spend many of their weekly meet-ups perfecting recipes and sharing meals.
If you would like to learn more, or get involved with The Funhouse Mentor Program, visit www.funhousecommons.org/mentor/ or contact Mentor Program Coordinator Trillium Swanson at trillium@thefunhouse.org, or 360.376.7177.
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Cheers to Trillium Swanson for describing the Funhouse Mentorship Program from the perspective of the recipient and describing what mentors can do to positively impact youth. Both parties are enriched and can get value through experiences, planned or not. I know there are great people on Orcas who easily dismiss this volunteer opportunity. : “I’m too busy.” For those that can fit some time in, please consider it. I happen to know there are many at risk youth or troubled youth that could benefit from a variety of healthy adult perpectives and ideas.