Former Barrie resident Nathan Haldane’s life has been a whirlwind over the past year, taking a major leap from a job behind a screen to one out in the world, preparing delicious meals.
And he credits his success to the Collingwood Youth Centre’s culinary internship program.
Registration is now open for the Collingwood program for an intake starting up Jan. 13. The paid, 12-week internship is open to youth and young adults aged 15 to 30 years old who are not currently enrolled in full-time education.
Haldane learned about the program a year ago, and applied for the January 2024 intake. While the 25-year-old was working as a computer programmer at the time, he was looking for something that would help push him out of his comfort zone and into something new post-pandemic.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I had been stuck on the internet for too long,” he recalls. “I was living in Barrie at the time but I saw on a local news site that they had this program in Collingwood.”
Overseen by local chef Skylar Fulmer, the program is run out of the youth centre and the Central Park canteen.
Participants in the program learn from and work with trained chefs to learn technical skills, as well as nutrition, healthy eating, food budgeting and foraging. As part of the program, youth also are eligible to earn their Smart Serve, First Aid, and food handlers certificate and can be connected with employment to put their new skills to use.
The program is supported by Elephant Thoughts, foundations and government grants.
“I met people from all over; there were others from Barrie and some Collingwood folks,” he said. “We started with icebreakers. In that sense, it started to feel like a family. People who knew how to cook would help people who were still shy about it.”
Haldane did have some prior experience working in fast food, but he hadn’t taken cooking seriously as a long-term job prior to participating in the program.
“By the end of the course, I definitely felt more confident in my abilities,” he said. “Halfway through I started realizing that a lot of the things I was learning were coming to me easily. I wanted to go further with it.”
Since finding a passion for cooking through the program, Haldane has made the move to the Collingwood area and is currently working at the Central Park canteen. He’s considered starting a food truck, and may do so in the future in collaboration with the organization.
After completing the program, Elephant Thoughts brought him to their camp in Durham to cook for the staff there.
“I take cooking a lot more seriously,” he said. “These are things I never thought I could have done in a year’s time.”
For area youth considering signing up for the next intake, Haldane has some advice.
“Be open-minded about it. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come up often,” he said.
The Collingwood Youth Centre’s next intake for the culinary internship program is open now, with the next class starting Jan. 13, 2025.
For more information on the program or to sign up, click here.
