October Kitchen - October 2019

This is our way of saying that you are important to us, and we truly value your business. Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to your friends and neighbors. ENJOY!

THE NOURISH LETTER

Meet the Team Behind Your Meals OCTOBER 2019

OctoberKitchen.com | 860-533-0588 | 309 Green Rd., Manchester, CT 06042

The True Vision of October Kitchen 100 YEARS FROM NOW

A few weeks ago, we got a call from a customer shortly after our delivery guy stopped by her home. Somehow, we’d messed up and forgot to put the chicken entree in the delivery box. This was pretty embarrassing. Fortunately, one of my guys in the kitchen used to be “the world’s best pizza delivery guy” — a title he gave himself. He looked up the client’s address, saw they were only 10 minutes away and stepped up to deliver the chicken personally. Our client was so relieved when he showed up at her door. She was 70 years old and had been planning on having those meals for lunch with her husband that day. Without the chicken, she would have had to go to the grocery store, a thought that caused her a great deal of stress. Having the problem fixed so promptly gave her tremendous relief.

beyond just putting food on a plate. It would be easy to sell food to folks that are high in salt and fat and loaded with carbs. Everybody does that. When I write recipes, I’m making food with the heart in mind. I want to make food that truly nourishes people, body, mind and soul. My goal with October Kitchen has always been to make sure the people who eat our food feel cared for. This means we need to both make tasty, nutritious meals and present those meals in a genuine and caring manner. Feeding people is a sacred devotion to me and I have been thinking about the vision of October Kitchen. Beyond our motto, what keeps us moving forward is this: “connecting to customers’ hearts through nourishing food and sincere service.” I know we are living up to our vision, based on the compliments we get from our customers and the regular calls we get from people asking for our help. There are countless

“Feeding people is a sacred devotion to me …”

From day one, the October Kitchen motto has been “nourishing people.” This goes

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Rules! Alison Caruso Makes the Grade

Alison Caruso is the kind of science teacher every kid wishes they had in middle school. Dedicated to her students, passionate about her subject and excited to teach — it’s surprising that Alison didn’t set out to be a teacher at first. Her love of science started in her high school anatomy and physiology class.

Alison applied for the sub position and spent a few months teaching

middle school science. After the school’s official

“I was fascinated by how the body works,” Alison says. “I was a runner in high school and I was really into being healthy. My anatomy and physiology class taught me how all the systems in the body work together to keep us healthy. I learned more about the human body in college and after graduating, I worked in a hospital rehab setting, teaching people how to take better care of their hearts after surgery.” After her kids were born, Alison took some time off work. Just as she was preparing to reenter the workforce, her

science teacher returned, Alison switched to a paraprofessional position and worked with kids who had special needs. She

spent a lot of time working one-on- one with kids in different classrooms, including the science lab. Alison was really impressed with how engaging the science teacher was with her students. This inspired her to go back to school and get certified to be a teacher herself.

“There are so many different areas of science,” Alison says. “That means there are a lot of avenues for kids to get into it. I got into science because I was super into biology. I’ve had students get into science because they like rocks and volcanoes or chemistry. The cool thing about science is it’s everywhere! My class isn’t just sitting around reading textbooks. We’re looking at how science works in real life.” When Alison isn’t giving Ms. Frizzle a run for her money, she’s spending time with her family, often hiking or playing board games. She still runs, too, though she’s upgraded to marathons and ultramarathons — or as Alison calls them, “girls’ weekends.”

husband, who works as a

school administrator, came home with a problem.

“He told me, ‘Alison, we’re in a bind! A teacher is going on maternity leave and we don’t have a long- term sub for science.’ And I thought, ‘Hey, I know science!’”

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A GOOD NEIGHBOR An 84-Year-Old’s Generous Gift Saves 72-Year-Old Neighbor

There are over 120,000 patients waiting for lifesaving organ transplants in the United States. These patients spend between 3–5 years on the list. For older patients, that wait can be too long. Linda Nall of Wimberly, Texas, became desperate when kidneys started to fail as a result of lupus. She did everything she could to find a viable donor, including creating a Facebook page, printing T-shirts and even putting up a sign up in her yard that read “I am type O and I need a kidney transplant. Please help me.” Not long after putting the sign up, Linda got a visit from a member of the town’s homeowners association, Frank Dewhurst. At first, Linda feared Frank would make her take down the sign. To her surprise, Frank offered to give Linda one of his kidneys. Frank, who happened to be type O and was in excellent health, had seen Linda’s sign while driving past her home. After discussing it with his wife, they agreed that helping Linda was the right thing to do. He underwent some tests to determine if he was cleared to donate and became the oldest living kidney donor in the United States at 84

years old. If that’s not impressive enough, Frank was discharged from Houston Methodist Hospital 48 hours

later and returned to his regular exercise routine.

... continued from Cover Linda was relieved to have a chance to spend more time with her friends and family, vowing to “make the most of Frank’s generous gift and live life to the fullest.” Frank, meanwhile, doesn’t see himself as a hero. “No big deal,” he told the Houston Chronicle. “I’m healthy and had what she needed, a functioning kidney. She wasn’t getting any better without one.” Linda and Frank’s story is inspiring and not just because it embodies the value of a good neighbor. In 2018, only 5% of kidney donors in the U.S. were over the age of 65. According to Dr. Hassan Ibrahim, chief of kidney diseases at Houston Methodist Hospital, if more older people donated, fewer people would spend their lives on the transplant list. people looking for the kind of service we offer and it’s always disheartening to have to tell someone we can’t help them because they live 100 miles outside of our delivery range. Recently, I started to think about the future of October Kitchen. There are whole underserved markets out there, coast to coast, who would benefit from what we do. By staying true to our vision, I believe we can grow to reach every single one of them. Everyone deserves to have a nutritious meal prepared by someone who genuinely cares about their well-being. This is my vision of October Kitchen for the next 100 years. This doesn’t mean we’re packing up and heading out to California. Our priority is and always will be our community. I’m humbled to see how much our customers rely on and look forward to their meals with us. As the years go on, I want us to remain the kind of company customers can rely on for nourishing food and sincere service — which might include sending a former pizza guy out to make an emergency chicken delivery.

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309 Green Rd. Manchester, CT 06042 INSIDE Our Sacred Devotion page 1

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Have You Met Alison Caruso?

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No Age Limit on Generosity

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3 Strategies for Helping Grandkids Pay for College

College expenses aren’t what they used to be. What used to be affordable to any student with a part-time summer job now can take years to pay off. If your grandkids want to go to college, the cost of education should not be a barrier to their future. Luckily there are ways that you can help ease that financial burden. Invest in a 529 Savings Plan. There are no limits on age, income or monetary contributions attached to this college savings account and contributions are tax-deductible in some states. Just like a Roth IRA, the earnings grow over time and can be used tax-free for qualifying expenses, like tuition and room and board. There are a few downsides, however. Funds from a grandparent’s 529 savings plan are considered student income and could hurt your student’s eligibility for financial aid. If you choose to fund through a parent’s 529 plan, which doesn’t count as student income, you lose control over the funds you contribute. Pay their tuition. Not everybody has $20,000 just lying around, but if you do, using it to pay for your grandchild’s tuition isn’t a bad way to spend it. Normally, annual financial gifts that are exempt from the federal gift tax can’t DON’T LET MONEY GET IN THE WAY Of Your Grandchild’s Education

exceed $15,000, but payments toward someone’s tuition, for any amount, are not taxed. Keep in mind, however, that the money can only go toward tuition, not toward other college expenses like room and board or textbooks. Help them find opportunities to save. Even if you don’t have thousands of dollars to give, you can still help your grandkids look for other opportunities to save. There are thousands of available scholarships, grants and programs to help students pay for college and helping them look online and in your community can go a long way. College could be your grandchild’s first stop on the path to achieving their dreams. You can be a part of that journey by making sure money doesn’t get in the way of that.

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