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Wounded Warriors Project offers private events with Plate Nextdoor

Wounded Warriors Project offers private events with Plate Nextdoor

19-Mar-2021
The most recent event had participants competing against each other for the best-looking Bread Art.

The creativity was streaming — spurred in part by the offer of a gift card for the best looking bread art — during a recent private event offered by Plate Nextdoor to participants of the Wounded Warriors Project.

Bread art was the game, and its players: 35 devices streaming the class to their homes, some cooking along with Plate Nextdoor instructor Shazia Rizvi.

Participants from the Wounded Warrior Project’s alumni program, and caregivers, followed Rizvi's instruction to bake focaccia and decorate it with vegetables and herbs to create bread art.

The participants brought their ‘A’ game in the decoration department.

WWP members Angel and Danila Alvarez earned a $25 Amazon gift card for their creation.

“We have some competitive foodies,” laughed WWP outreach specialist Gina Colon.

WWP members Angel and Danila Alvarez earned a $25 Amazon gift card for their creation (pictured above).

Wounded Warrior Project was founded in 2003 to help provide resources and support to those returning injured from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. It has grown nationally, and as of September 2019, there were 168,000 registered warriors, family members and caregivers.

Colon is an outreach specialist based in New England, but the participants of the class she helped organize drew nationwide response, with folks creating bread art from Fresno, California, to Jacksonville, North Carolina, and many places in between.

“I serve those who served,” she says. She has been with WWP since 2018.

"I serve those who serve" -- Gina Colon, Wounded Warrior Project outreach specialist

The pandemic moved many of the alumni program’s offerings online, Colon said.

The virtual programs have a diverse national attendance, rather than focused on in-person events by region. As a result, Colon (and her fellow 60 WWP outreach specialists) looked for creative classes that could be offered virtually.

A search on Facebook led her to Plate Nextdoor, which offers cultural experiences in global cooking, baking and art.

Working with Plate Nextdoor CEO Supriya Shekar, Colon said WWP has offered about six private events for its participants. Events have included making naan and curry, and biscotti.

Chocolate-dipped biscotti was on the menu for a recent private event for Wounded Warriors Project, hosted by Plate Nextdoor instructor Shazia Razvi.

“It was a good fit for us because we’re national. And the set up, the instructors have it down perfect,” Colon says of working with Plate Nextdoor, which uses a two-camera set-up that shows both the instructor and their workspace.

Rizvi has instructed many of the private events for WWP, and participants feel like they know her, Colon says.

There was strong discussion for another competitive class during the bread art event, almost “The Great British Bake-Off” style, like the popular Netflix show.

“Partnering with Wounded Warrior Project during the pandemic to provide virtual entertainment for those who served and their caregivers has been very special for Plate Nextdoor. We are so excited to see individuals/families join in virtually with so much excitement and cook along with our diverse background instructors and learn about a new culture and food locally without having to travel far” says Shekar.

Colon says they have gotten “so much positive feedback from virtual events.” She said there are usually 50 to 70 alumni events a year by region.

One of Wounded Warrior Project's events with Plate Nextdoor was a class on making curry and naan.

The format has allowed those WWP serves to connect all over the country. They’ve also helped connect those living together.

The bread art private event had several couples and families participating — and Colon says that isn’t unusual.

“Cooking is very therapeutic,” Colon says, and a “way to connect significant others and families.”

The virtual events have also made more WWP events more accessible to participants who didn’t live within easy driving distance of in-person events.

“Virtual has opened the door,” Colon says. “People are meeting each other.”

The goal of the WWP’s alumni program and its events is to connect warriors and caregivers to each other. There are many other programs offered to those who served and their caregivers under the WWP umbrella, including job/career assistance, mental and physical health and wellness, independence programs and peer support.

For more about WWP and how to donate, visit www.woundedwarriorsproject.org and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

For more on Plate Nextdoor’s private events, and how to get one scheduled for your organization, see a complete class at www.PlateNextdoor.com or email info@platenextdoor.com.

[By Andi Petrini, Plate Nextdoor public relations manager/content editor | Posted 3/19/2021]