Teaching students to be self reliant..

At Triumph Youth Services we subscribe to the idea that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime…

We are definitely teaching our students to fish, but in more ways than one. We are teaching them to cook/bake for themselves. They are learning a forgotten craft that in the past was handed down through generations when there was no other choice but to make ones own food. Now you can go to the dollar menu and grab something quick, so the tradition of learning to cook is quickly fading into the background. Our students are responsible for following a recipe while using fresh ingredients to make their own food on a daily basis. When it’s time for a fund-raiser we occasionally have bake sales. The students earn their food handlers license and bake all of the goods they sell, increasing their confidence. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get an excellent guest chef to teach Triumph’s young men the art of making a beautiful burger… Scrud from Scrud’s Gourmet Grub is a very talented chef and happens to have a special connection to our program. It is always a huge treat for the students when he comes around because they know they are going to eat amazing food until they can’t eat any more. More than feeding the students Scrud teaches them how to create their own work of art, insisting that they use their imagination to build their dream burger. The nights we get to enjoy this tasty grub are great for morale and for building self esteem. Our students realize that they have learned a new, very useful skill that they can pay forward and teach someone else.