A local program that helps immigrant women learn English, Canadian culture and food handling certification is going into a second-year thanks to recent funding from the federal government.
Roots to Harvest runs the Culture Kitchen and spokesperson Erin Beagle tells us without this funding they would have either cancelled the program or majorly scaled it back.
“If we hadn’t got the funding we would have way scaled back and when this came up as an opportunity it was a huge light at the end of the tunnel for us,” Beagle said.
Mona Elmahdy s from Egypt and says she’s really enjoyed the Culture Kitchen program so far.
“Try to learn a new culture, new names for some things we already know but that is new for here, learn a lot of things that we don’t know,” Elmahdy said.
It’s the second time around for Aya Wadi from Syria. She says she’s thankful to take part in the program for newcomers since last year she and her family used the food handling certification they received to open their own food catering business called Royal Aleppo Foods.
“Because the program was such a success we decided to start our business, so I wish the best for all the other women,” Wadi said.
The program recently started again at the Roots to Harvest building on Fort William Road.
