Aces of Trades: 'Improving the community through food-related work'
ZANESVILLE – Sometimes being a foodie can be a really rewarding thing.
“I’ve been into food as long as I’ve been eating,” noted Amy Aurore. “When I was a child, I grew up watching Julia Child, which in later years expanded to include all the many food-related television shows. After school, I would concoct delicious snacks in my parent’s kitchen. In college, I began to care more about nutrition and healthy foods. In my 20s, I started to notice and care about local food, slow food (as opposed to fast food), and sustainable food. Now, I love to cook for large groups as well as my family and myself, and I love using as many locally sourced, nutritious whole foods as possible.”
Today, Aurore is executive director of Foodworks Alliance.
“My primary function,” she said, “is to be the face out in the community, advocating for our cause, which is improving the community through food-related work.
“One of the best things I do,” she added, “is get to know the women in our Recovery with a Purpose Program, which hires and trains local women in recovery in kitchen skills. And my other new favorite is delivering food made by these women to local food kitchens, like Trulight Ministries, Salvation Army and Christ’s Table.”
Aurore grew up in Gardner, Massachusetts, graduated from high school there, then earned a business management degree at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. After college, she went to work at Northeastern University in Boston, then New England College in Concord, NH, where she also earned a master’s degree in human services.
“I’ve done a little of a lot of things, and all paths have led me here to Foodworks Alliance,” she said. “I’ve had positions in human resources, client services, food service, administrative support, and social services, as well as owning and operating my own wedding officiant business. Strangely enough, this eclectic mix of past employment satisfies many of the skills that I need to be the executive director here.
“I began at FWA in July of 2022,” she continued, “because I legitimately felt like I was guided here by an unnamed force. I’d heard about FWA in the past and loved what they stood for, helping small food businesses get off the ground and helping them along the way. This past summer, I began to desire something more than just running my business. I was ready to level up and do something to impact my community. I didn’t want to wait until I retire to turn my efforts over to community work. I loved the opportunity to do it now.”
Shala Aitken, board vice president at Foodworks Alliance, remembers well the first time she met Aurore.
“When the interview became a three-hour conversation, I knew she was something special,” recalled Aitken. “She was exactly what Foodworks Alliance needed. Her perspective and commitment on serving the community, connecting the community and helping others is refreshing. Amy was hired as a project coordinator, and she became so much more than that. After our Taste of Muskingum event, we began the transition from myself to Amy as the executive director.”
“When I accepted the position,” Aurore responded, “I knew I had a learning curve ahead of me. But what I didn’t expect was how rewarding it would be to watch these women take each and every step necessary to rebuild their lives. Within the 12 weeks they spend with us, they often achieve great heights, completing group programs, getting their licenses and cars back, obtaining independent housing, and regaining partial or full custody of their children. I’m looking forward to continuing to develop this program so that it can be even more robust.”
Foodworks Alliance is located at 2725 Pinkerton Road in Zanesville. For more information, call 740-868-7342 or log on www.foodworksalliance.com.
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at trnews@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: 'Improving the community through food-related work'
