Cooking Without Power Workshop Serves Up Preparedness—with a Dash of Community Spirit

Late this fall, the Oregon Department of Emergency Management partnered with the Talent Community Cooperative and Rogue Food Unites for a Cooking Without Power community workshop—an interactive, family-focused event that proved emergency preparedness can be both practical and delicious.

With support from OEM’s Preparedness and Strategic Communications teams, Kayla Thompson, Community Preparedness Coordinator; Natasha Fox, Chief Resiliency Officer; and Shirley Blake, Public Information Officer, spent the afternoon teaching families how to make nutritious, culturally relevant meals without electricity. Using only shelf-stable ingredients, staff prepared a meal on the spot—showing attendees just how creative, simple, and empowering emergency cooking can be.

A Boost From Community Partners

The event also highlighted the strength of local partnerships. Thanks to a generous donation from Albertsons, each family took home a bag filled with non-perishable foods to help kick-start or strengthen their emergency supplies. A total of 50 emergency food bags were distributed—a meaningful investment in household readiness. OEM extends a big thank-you to Albertsons for stepping up to support community resilience.

The workshop also featured support from Rogue Food Unites (RFU), whose team members — Jesús Ríos, Program Manager; Yesenia Solorzano-Madden, Grants Lead; and Jeff Nichols, Local & State Outreach Lead — participated directly in the event and shared their expertise with attendees.

Rogue Food Unites uses food to heal individuals and communities during times of crisis. RFU coordinates with locally invested food businesses to provide fresh, nutritious, and shelf-stable ingredients delivered throughout Oregon. Their work strengthens local economies, fosters collaboration, preserves jobs, and supports food security and sovereignty across the state.

A Welcoming, Bilingual Learning Environment

About 35 participants attended, representing families from the Talent Community Cooperative. Many also took steps to strengthen long-term preparedness by signing up for emergency alerts and learning about OEM’s Be 2 Weeks Ready program. To ensure accessibility for the entire community, the workshop was offered in English with Spanish interpretation.

A Recipe for Resilience

The biggest takeaway from the day? Preparedness doesn’t have to be intimidating. With the right information, community support, and a few practical skills, families can take simple steps that make a big difference during emergencies.

Photos captured the hands-on cooking demonstrations, families learning together, and lots of smiling faces as participants filled their emergency food bags.

This workshop is another example of how Oregon communities are strengthening resilience—one shared meal, one prepared household, and one dedicated partner at a time.