Melissa Caron and Matt Medeiros turned wedding favors into something that would continue giving.

Some people give bubbles and CDs full of love songs, but in place of a wedding favor for guests at their June 5 wedding, Melissa Caron and Matt Medeiros gave something to the Lexington, Va. community that would keep on giving.

The couple chose to replace a trinket for dozens of wedding guests with eight portable burners to serve potentially thousands at the Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee. This Fall, the burners will act as the primary cooking tool behind CKWL’s new Healthy Cooking on a Budget classes.

“The portable burners make it a portable class,” said Campus Kitchen coordinator Jenny Davidson, who also said she was looking into different funding options for the burners before she received the donation.

The class will give participants step-by-step instruction on how to make healthy, affordable, and delicious meals without breaking the bank.  It focuses on educating all age groups, bringing adults in with their children to hold a “cooking with kids” session and working with food pantry clients for “cooking from you box”, which shows people how to turn canned and dried goods into full meals.

Caron and Medeiros gave Butane gas camp stoves because of Caron’s work with the Campus Kitchen in the past (she once served as a Campus Kitchen intern) and her work alongside Davidson now as part of the Shepherd Program. Davidson says Caron was into reading wedding blogs and probably got the idea of giving a donation over a wedding favor there.

Donations like Caron’s keep the Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee expanding operations and finding creative ways to reach all populations.

The portable Butane burners will serve as a portable classroom.

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