Community Kitchen breaks ground on new project

TIFFIN --- The Tiffin Community Kitchen broke ground Friday afternoon on a $2.8 million facility at 90 Jefferson St., behind Old Trinity Episcopal Church. Old Trinity Episcopal Church and nonprofit organization Seneca County Common Ground have partnered together for this impactful project. Along with Old Trinity and Common Ground, many other local organizations and businesses such as the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio, Mercy Health, Tiell Financial Group, Tiffin Charitable Foundation, The National Machinery Foundation, Clouse Construction Corp, Alan and Loretta Kaplan, and more have been raising funds or providing services for the project for three years. Tiffin Community Kitchen is known for being a community center for healthy living and culinary training, and the upcoming addition will be utilized for locally produced and prepared food, and hosting classes open to the public. "I'm thrilled that something we started four years ago with brainstorming sessions, bringing together community leaders and everyone in our area to determine what can we do to truly change lives in Seneca County," Valerie Zeno, the director of programming for the kitchen, said during the ceremony. "This space will give us the opportunity to teach people what they can do with produce they just picked up from the farmer's market," she continued. "We'll be able to bring groups of people together that maybe have a passion and want to be a future culinarian, but have no skill when it comes to working with commercial kitchen equipment. We'll get them prepared to jumpstart a new career. We'll be able to take young adults that simply don't have the tools or resources to learn how to prepare healthy foods, and give them a space where they're supported. We can truly change lives by giving people an education and a skill, and that is something that this kitchen will be able to do." Aaron Montz, who was mayor at the time the idea for the project was established and president of Tiffin-Seneca Economic Development Partnership, said he is excited to see the it come to fruition through the Dream Big Process, which facilitated the project. "This truly is going to be transformational for the Tiffin and Seneca County community because of what it's going to do for families regardless of income level," Montz said. This project was number one voted on by the community and it was what the city of Tiffin wanted to see as their top project—and we get things done in Tiffin and Seneca County." Aaron Gerlach, pastor of Old Trinity Episcopal Church, emphasized the importance of creating spaces of beauty to help elevate spirits, and that Old Trinity Episcopal Church was heavily inspired by the work granted by The National Machinery Foundation with projects like the splash pad and the amphitheater. "This community has been such a source of inspiration for this church," Gerlach said during the ceremony. "We deeply are grateful to everyone who gives us the courage to dream big like this and do something new. Also, we just want to recognize the hundreds of people who have contributed to this project already, generously from their hearts." Financial donations continue to be accepted to the Tiffin Community Kitchen either online or by check. Online donations can be made by visiting www.sccommonground.org and clicking on Tiffin Community Kitchen at the top of the page, and then on Support the Project. Checks can be made payable to Tiffin Community Kitchen and mailed to 90 Jefferson St., Tiffin OH 44883. For more information, call 567-938-TFFN (8336) or contact the team on social media.