A local nonprofit is giving Bronx students the skills to cook for their families. It's called the SNAC, or the Sustainable Nutrition And Community Connection program.

The organization offers in-school and after-school programming to students. "SNACC's goal is to use food as a vehicle for connection, community and youth development. It's an entry point, and we see it as a opportunity for bonding, for confidence building, for stress reducing and to just bring people together to create happy, positive experiences that can help fuel them in other aspects of their lives," said Danielle Cohen, executive director and founder of SNACC. SNACC's after-school program, "Cook and Connect," provides a "kitchen starter kit" to participants, filled with spices, bowls, pots, pans and everyone one may need to cook a meal. Then throughout the school year, from October to May, families get ingredients delivered by SNACC for the program's weekly Zoom meetings. The meetings are about one hour and a half, and have about 20 students and a chef to lead the sessions. The students are tasked with completing one recipe per session, from prep to plate. The recipes incorporate cultures and cuisines from all over the world, and various guest chefs come to the sessions ready to share their signature dish with the students. "After the SNACC sessions, we would usually get together at the dinner table, and back then we would never really do that," said Dylan Paulino, one of the Cook and Connect participants. Paulino participated in the program during this past school year. He told News 12 he's grateful to be able to help out his mom in the kitchen. He also appreciated the in-depth learning he got from the weekly sessions. "Them telling me to do this step by step really slowed it down for me and allowed me to understand everything," said Paulino. He said he'll have his cooking skills for life and is excited to continue to taste new foods and flavors. "By creating this at-home model, we're able to join families, meet them where they are and bring our programing into their everyday life, so that it can be continued even outside of our session hours," said Cohen.

She told News 12 she loves to see the impact her program has on young residents and hopes to expand her programming to help even more students. SNACC also provides in-school programming to more than 20 schools in the Bronx, where SNACC leaders bring ingredients and cooking classes right to the classroom. Cohen said interested schools can contact SNACC via its website. Click this link to learn more about SNACC and its free programming. Applications for the Cook and Connect program are open now until Sept. 20. The Cook and Connect program is currently offered to Bronx students in eighth and ninth grade, but SNACC also provides services to students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The organization is celebrating its fifth year of helping young residents create delicious, healthy meals in their homes. The organization serves over 1,000 students annually and hopes to grow that number in the years to come.

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