PATHCOOKS

Serving Home-Cooked Meals with Tender-Loving Care

PATHCooks Brochure

Thank you for your interest in PATHCooks, a volunteer program that provides home-cooked meals to residents staying at PATH’s housing facilities.

Your group’s participation will help the homeless in several ways. Food purchased by your group saves money for PATH, which is used to provide essential housing and support services for residents. Also, menus selected by your group offer “dining variety” for residents to enhance the quality of their stay.

The enthusiasm and energy your group brings to PATH shows our residents that they are valued and that someone really cares for them!

We hope you will join us in becoming a PATHCooks partner. We request that groups consider making a monthly commitment, with openness to build a partnership with PATH and our residents over the long-term.

Signing up is easy… just follow these 5 steps:

Step 1: Select a Date

Call us to select a date, time and location for your meal preparation. Meals can be prepared at two sites: Westside Center (West Los Angeles) and Regional Homeless Center ( Central Los Angeles). The meal time slots are:

• Dinner: Meal served at 6:00pm, preparation 1-2 hours prior.
• Breakfast (Sat/Sun): Meal served at 7:30-8:00am, preparation 1-2 hours prior.

We will do our best to accommodate your group’s schedule, but we are required to serve meals on a set schedule. Slots are reserved on a first-come basis. To check date availability, please contact:  

• Sam Colquitt (323) 960-3333 ( PATH Hollywood Center)
• Ramona Holland (323) 644-2255 ( PATH Regional Homeless Center)
• Kai Stansberry (310) 996-0034 ( PATH Westside Center)

Step 2: Confirm your Cooks

An ideal group size is 6-8 people per cooking event, although we can comfortably accommodate up to 10 people. Due to the large quantities of food to be prepared and served, we request that you confirm at minimum of 4 people for your event. “Cooks” of all ages are welcome to join and children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Step 3: Choose a Menu

We welcome you to be creative and original with your menu. Feel free to “cook up” new menus that you think will be enjoyed by our residents. When planning meals, keep in mind the diversity of our residents and prepare something that has a universal appeal (i.e. nothing too spicy or exotic). Cooking tips and sample menus for large groups are enclosed.

We request that you bring drinks and serving supplies (plates, plastic-ware, napkins and cups) on the day of your event.

Step 4: Buy Food & Supplies

Food and supplies can be purchased at any grocery store or bulk food stores like Costco or Smart ’N Final. We recommend you purchase supplies a few days in advance, which cuts down on added stress on the day of the event. If necessary, you can call PATH and arrange to store your supplies at the PATH location a few days prior to your event (if you choose this option, please package your supplies together and clearly label them with your group name and date of event.)

For cooking at the Westside Center, plan your meal to serve 30-35 adult residents. For the Regional Homeless Center, plan your meal to serve 70-80 adult residents.

Step 5: Show Up and Have a Great Time!

On the day of your event, a PATH staff member will greet your group and provide an orientation to the kitchen. Staff will be on-site at all times to assist your group with preparing and serving your home-cooked meal to our residents.

Be safe and have fun!