Cura, a member of the Elior North America family of companies, is proud to recognize Older Americans Month celebrated during the month of May!
As part of the celebration, Cura has launched Fresh at Home meal kits offered to all communities where Cura manages food service. For a cost of only $10- $12, the meal kit comes complete with fresh ingredients that are pre-packaged, along with step-by-step recipe instructions so residents can easily use the ingredients to prepare a delicious meal in their home in less than 30 minutes.
Communities such as Lutheran SeniorLife at Passavant in Zelienople, PA, recently partnered with Cura to help market their independent living spaces to prospective residents leveraging dining and Fresh at Home! According to Kasandra Leighland, director of marketing and communications for Passavant, one of the things residents are particularly interested in prior to moving into a community like ours, is the food. Cura does a great job in delivering and providing special touches. “We want to build upon that and feature the expertise of our chefs and what Cura has to offer, including Fresh at Home,” Ms. Leighland says.
To achieve their goal, Passavant’s audio and visual department produced a cooking show in a residential living space featuring Cura’s Executive Chef Gregory Fried demonstrating the preparation of apricot chicken with roasted potatoes and green beans. “It gives prospective residents an idea of cooking the Fresh at Home meal kit in their new kitchen at Passavant,” says Ms. Leighland.
Prospective residents were even invited to Passavant while Cura was working on deploying Fresh at Home which includes chicken, fish, pasta, pork, and vegetarian recipe options. “They loved the concept, the simplicity, and the cost. In fact, they wanted to know how they could have Fresh at Home delivered to their home prior to moving in!” says Ms. Leighland. The DVD cooking video was aired throughout campus for all to enjoy!
Fresh at Home was also added to the dining’s extensive grocery program, which has been extremely popular during the pandemic. Residents can add the meal kit to their weekly grocery list, along with milk, bread, fruit, eggs, and other proteins. Order forms are available throughout campus, with several drop-off locations, as well as new forms in their grocery delivery. “Dining has gone out of their way, especially during the pandemic, to accommodate residents. Current and prospective residents are seeing the value, and that the options here are unlimited,” says Ms. Leighland.
Plans are already underway for future Fresh at Home cooking shows and live demonstrations in the community’s bistro. Executive Chef Gregory loves cooking for his residents, but also believes that residents should have a sense of independence. “It’s great for their self-esteem to cook for themselves. Fresh at Home makes it easy for them to do so,” he says.
In the meantime, Passavant is busy, providing prospective residents with the cooking show DVD along with a Fresh at Home package – giving them a taste of the possibilities of life at Passavant!
