A couple of cooks
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- Published on Thursday, May 12, 2016
Photo by Kira Paterson. George and Vicki Woloski are a husband and wife team cooking for the HAND congregate meal program. Vicki has been working there for over six years, with George joining her a few weeks ago.
By Kira Paterson
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
Neepawa seniors are able to get home cooked meals through the 水果视频 Assistance Neepawa and District (HAND) Congregate Meal Program. Now, their meals are being made by a husband and wife team.
George and Vicki Woloski are the HAND Congregate Meal cooks, serving up home cooked meals for citizens 55 years of age or older. The meal program is on every Tuesday to Friday and this couple cooks every meal. Then, when it鈥檚 time to serve, they have volunteers come out during lunch to help them with serving and cleaning.
Vicki has been working in the kitchen at the Yellowhead Manor, which is where the meals take place, for over six years now. Her husband, George, started working there just over two weeks ago. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a husband and wife team. Whatever I don鈥檛 do, he does and whatever he doesn鈥檛 do, I do in the kitchen,鈥� Vicki said. 鈥淲orks out pretty good.鈥�
They both enjoy the job and agree that it鈥檚 an important one. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun and you鈥檙e helping seniors,鈥� Vicki said. 鈥淸We] meet different people all the time.鈥�
鈥淲e get more and more people all the time,鈥� said George, 鈥渟o we鈥檙e doing something right.鈥�
Vicki added that it鈥檚 good for seniors to be able come out and enjoy a home cooked meal that they wouldn鈥檛 often have at home living alone. 鈥淭oday, for instance, who鈥檚 going to go out and buy a pizza for one person?... That鈥檚 basically three quarters of everyone here [at the congregate meals], they鈥檙e just one person.鈥�
The Woloskis were born and raised in the Neepawa area. Vicki had a home daycare and cleaned for homecare before she started cooking for HAND. George worked at Prairie Forest for 23 years but got injured recently and had been on disability pay before he got the opportunity to join Vicki in the kitchen.
Both have taken their food safety course, but other than that, the only experience either of them have in the culinary arts is cooking at home. But that, of course, makes the home cooked meals even more genuine. 鈥淲e both come from big families,鈥� Vicki explained. 鈥淚鈥檓 the oldest [in my family], well my sister and I are twins and we鈥檙e the oldest. So we did all the cooking and helped my mom and dad out all the time.鈥�
鈥淲e know all the old tricks,鈥� added George.
Genie Barnaby, the coordinator at HAND, is very enthusiastic about having a husband and wife team in the kitchen. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e amazing,鈥� Barnaby said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a good team, they鈥檙e both great cooks and everybody鈥檚 quite thrilled with [the meals] they鈥檙e getting.鈥�
This week, the couple was be extra busy, cooking a roast beef dinner for the celebration of HAND鈥檚 30th anniversary on Wednesday and a ham and potatoes dinner for the Let No One Be Alone meal on Friday.
