The Lincoln County Culinary School is planning to kick off a series of classes on Thursday, Jan. 28 – thanks to a grant through the Montana Food Bank Network.

The Lincoln County GRASP Coalition received a $1,000 mini-grant to provide nutrition and cooking education to the community. GRASP is an acronym for Growing Resources And Sustaining People and includes a coalition of organizations that includes the Libby School District, Libby Food Pantry, Troy Food Pantry, Tobacco Valley Food Pantry, Kootenai Valley Head Start and Montana State University Extension.

The mini-grant program is designed to help local groups increase access to food and nutrition for low-income residents beyond what emergency food can provide.

The GRASP Coalition chose to organize workshops that are both accessible and attractive to its target audience – people without a lot of extra money to spend on fancy ingredients or expensive tools.

The collaborating organizations will offer family-oriented culinary classes. Classes will be offered in three towns – Libby, Troy, and Eureka – and will include healthy and simple recipes using seasonal ingredients as well as nutrition and budgeting information.

The first of many classes begins at 6 p.m. Thursday in Libby at the Central Administration Building (724 Louisiana Ave.). Children are welcome to attend and assist with meal preparation.

For more information on the Lincoln County Culinary School, contact Bernadette Gunn, GRASP program manager, at -800-809-4752, ext. 227 or [email protected] . Or locally, contact Amanda Fitch in the Libby Elementary School Family Resource Center at 293-8881, or

[email protected] .