Veteran teaches cooking for a cause
Her reality television debut did not go as U.S. Air Force veteran Ellen Adams had planned.
The owner of A Red Hot Dish, a personal chef service, she competed on a veterans' episode of Chopped in 2015, with the goal of funding a program to teach cooking to veterans.
"This whole Chopped episode was one of the most stressful days of my life — and I have served in Baghdad and my husband was in the Pentagon on 9/11,” Adams said after her day of competition.
The Webster resident was eliminated in the first round of the show. On camera, she expressed, through tears, her hope that a person watching the show might help make her dream a reality.
As it turned out, that is exactly what happened.
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Margaret "Mugsy" Wahlrab watched the show from her home in El Segundo, California. “It touched me,” she said. The owner of an independent insurance agency, she regularly supports organizations that focus on soldiers and children.
She reached out to Adams on Facebook, and expressed an interest in contributing to the program. With that, Adams was on the hunt for an organization and venue to host the program.
The fellow veteran
Like Adams, Luann Van Peursem is an Air Force veteran. During her 33 years of service, she was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and she received the Air Force Commendation Medal with Valor for providing first aid to critically injured soldiers following a rocket attack at Iraq's Sather Air Base.
After leaving the military, Van Peursem found herself in a "deep slump" and said she became close to being one of the 20 veterans who commit suicide, on average, on a daily basis. Like many veterans, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. A counselor recommended that she visit EquiCenter, which focuses on therapeutic equestrian programs for people with disabilities, at-risk youths, veterans and their families. About 20 veterans currently take advantage of EquiCenter programs.
While heading down the drive on the Mendon ranch's 200 acres of rolling hills, horse pastures and gardens, “I could just feel the heaviness lifted from my shoulder," she said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of here. It’s so peaceful.”
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She started with the equestrian program, and quickly connected with Spirit, a black-and-white American Paint. As she grooms and rides him, she focuses only on the tasks at hand, giving her a chance to escape troubling memories.
“Even if it’s just an hour, it’s an hour less of all that," she said. "It helps.”
When you’re dealing with an animal that weighs 1,500 to 1,800 pounds, “you have to be in the moment," said Karen Werth, program/volunteer coordinator and PATH certified instructor at the EquiCenter. Veterans with PTSD often have a hard time connecting with other people, and it can be easier for them to connect to horses, which are social and emotional beings.
“The connecting time (with the horse) is as important as the physical benefits of riding,” Werth said.
Van Peursem has also joined in on complementary programs at the EquiCenter. A yoga class looks out over the beautiful surroundings and brings her peace. The farm's therapeutic horticulture program helps her learn gardening skills and connect with nature and the earth. The combined effect of all of these elements has been profound, she said.
Her work in the three-acre garden led her to suggest that the EquiCenter start a cooking program in the well-appointed house on the property. It would take advantage of the garden's harvest, and also help veterans, who often go from home to the military without learning to cook.
Rochester-area Veterans Day observances, events
She heard about Adams competing on Chopped, and contacted her. Van Peursem was surprised to find out that Adams had received the $10,000 donation offer, and was looking for a place to host the program. It seemed to be a perfect fit.
"The horses and our equine therapy is the heart of what we do at the Equicenter," said Werth. "A farm-to-table program seemed a natural hook to help veterans and our other participants learn how to care for themselves nutritionally and in a healthy way."
The program
Now called Cooking With Heroes, the cooking program is held twice a month at the EquiCenter. Veterans, along with EquiCenter volunteers and staff, gather to prepare a healthy meal centered on the bounty produced in the EquiCenter garden. Adams is all smiles as she supervises the group and guides it through the meal preparation. When cooking is complete, they sit down to share a meal.
“The best meals I have are when I’m here," Van Peursem said. She beams with pride that she helped grow the vegetables as well as cook them. “Now we’re working on more than one kind of healing," she said.
While the other EquiCenter programs heal the mind and spirit, the healthy eating nourishes the body, she explains. "Everything just clicks together."
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There are many veterans and volunteers cooking together in the kitchen, and the distinction between the two is a blurry one. There's Barbara Stickney of Greece, who served in the Air Force from 1979 to 1983. She credits the EquiCenter for helping her rebuild her life after being homeless. She also volunteers as a side walker or leader, ensuring the safety of children as they ride horses. There's also 91-year-old Ralph Edwards, a World War II veteran. He is known as the "senior volunteer groomer," helping groom horses once a week, a skill he learned while working on a farm in high school. He started his weekly visits to the EquiCenter shortly after his wife died two years ago.
“You go home pooped but you’re uplifted," Edwards said.
The EquiCenter invited Wahlrab, the program's donor, to join them at The Mane Event, its main fundraising event, in September. She accepted, and also took part in one of Adams' cooking classes.
"It’s the first time I ever got to see a donation in action," she said. "It was so touching to see it in action. It was incredible.” Wahlrab decided to fund the groceries for the program as well.
Adams was thrilled. "Ten thousand dollars seems like a lot of money," Adams said. "It goes fast."
Cooking with Heroes welcomes contributions through the EquiCenter at equicenterny.org/donate. In addition to gift cards or cash, it has a need for: cast iron pans, Pyrex baking dishes, a pasta pot with insert, an immersion blender, a waffle iron, a pancake griddle, an indoor grill (such as a George Foreman grill), bakeware, rolling pins and cookie cutters.
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Veterans Day closings
The following offices will be closed Friday in observance on Veterans Day.
• City Hall and administrative offices, Neighborhood Service Centers.
• The Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County and all branches in the city.
• Federal, state and Monroe County offices.
• U.S. Postal Service facilities.
• Banks.
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