Cooking Classes and More for Shoestring Parents

If you stop by Operation Shoestring this summer, you may be offered some squash, sweet potatoes, or some other tasty produce! Over the last few years, we’ve created several health-focused classes for our parent program, and many Shoestring parents say they enjoy learning new recipes and getting to spend time cooking together in these classes.

“I love the Shoestring community, and doing cooking demonstrations,” says Qula Madkin. Qula is a registered dietitian and nutritionist at the Mississippi State Extension Services of Hinds County, a registered diabetes care specialist, and also the head chef for our healthy eating classes. A native Mississippian, Qula says that her favorite part of her work is supporting her fellow Mississippians in being healthier because “there’s a barrier to information and how it is distributed” in our state in terms of health advice and programming. “My work is really fun,” says Qula, “and I love having a connection with our community.” 

When it comes to our Shoestring community, Qula supports our parenting programming centered on nutrition. Qula loves that we have programming just for parents, and enjoys how her work with Shoestring “really supports parents in their efforts to be healthy and provides them with wellness and nutrition information.” Qula challenges Shoestring parents to be open to changing their perspective about different types of produce in her healthy eating classes and to rethink the ways they view their relationship with healthy eating overall. 

“I think Operation Shoestring is a great program, and I look forward to getting to know the parents even better,” says Qula. Partner with us to create a more healthy, hopeful, future for kids and families in our city at operationshoestring.org/support.