OSU culinary students help Camp Gruber volunteers

Thursday, September 15th 2005, 10:24 am

By: News On 6

Hundreds of Katrina survivors are still living at Camp Gruber and theyâ€™ve received lots of help, but what the volunteers helping out at the camp. That is where some college culinary arts students come into the picture.

News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin says the sounds of great creations are heard every day at OSU Okmulgee's Culinary Arts kitchen, where students blend their passion for food with the inspiration of their instructors.

Mike: "I love to cook, I love to eat, and thatâ€™s why I got started is I love to eat." But on this day, there's a deeper meaning behind their efforts.

Valarie: "With the Oklahoma City tornado, I think we can all feel the closeness of something like this happening in our area, so when something like this happens to someone else in other parts of the United States, we wanna help out, especially when they're in our backyard."

These chefs in training are preparing boxed lunches for hundreds of volunteers at Camp Gruber. When instructors offered help, they were told donations for evacuees are pouring in, but the way they could pitch in is to help feed the workers. They started baking Wednesday, enough bread and cookies to feed 500. Now as they put on the finishing touches, students are able to see the plan come together, they get a lesson in catering for a good cause.

Boxes will also contain sandwiches, chips and pasta salad. The three day project took some work, but these students say it's easy to give, doing something they love.

Cathy: "I enjoy pleasing people and their bellies. This is our way to pay back, because we know if something happened to us, people would come help us."

Supplies were donated with the help of US Food Services. The boxed lunches will be delivered to Camp Gruber Friday morning.