Letting Go of the Spatula

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Letting Go of the Spatula

• CCCA Philadelphia
• 11/29/06
• Joe K. Wilson
• joekwilson_at_msn.com

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Letting Go of the Spatula

• Why you might want to consider turning over your
  kitchen to a guest group that is interested in
  doing its own cooking, and how to protect
  property, inventory, and people in the process.
• Reactions testimonials
• Why some camps have let go
• Safeguards needed
• Examples of forms policies
• Weigh pros and cons

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Letting Go of the Spatula Reactions

• Once when a group was renting the kitchen, I came
  in and they had cardboard spread out over the
  floor near all the ovens and fryers (gas flames
  and all).  They were preparing some sort of
  cabbage based concoction on the floor (on the
  cardboard).  The same place they were walking
  through.  When I tried to inquire what exactly
  was happening, no one in the kitchen spoke
  English or French or any other language that I
  could try.  I had to leave, write it down, and
  hope for the best.
• Mike, LA

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Letting Go of the Spatula Reactions

• Health department frowns
• Preserve your reputation
• Lots of liability
• Can only house one group at a time
• Need a licensed cook overseeing group
• Dangers of poor food prep skills
• Differing Definitions of Clean!
• No control over food quality and safety
• Lock the pantry!

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Testimonials New York

• Testimonial 1
• We dont allow our retreaters to use our
  kitchen. The NY State Health Dept. states that
  no food can be prepared and served on our
  premises other than by our own staff. Our groups
  arent even allowed to bring food prepared at
  home and brought here to be served and eaten
  here.
• Sue, Camp Pinnacle, Voorheesville, NY

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Testimonials New York

• Testimonial 2
• All camps must hire our head cook to be present
  in the kitchen but not necessarily to cook. We
  place a Covenant Acres label on all our stock.
  We post a blank paper to list items used from our
  stock. All camps must purchase the three soap
  and rinse containers for the dishwasher. We tell
  each camp they are renting our facility, not our
  supplies. Our county health department will be
  notified and they will inspect the kitchen during
  the week for all childrens camps.
• Tom, Pike, NY

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Testimonials Indiana

• Testimonial 3
• We give our groups the options to cook for
  themselves. And most of them do. We dont have
  problems with groups stealing our food. And we
  havent had any trouble with broken/damaged
  equipment.
• Mike, Ray Bird Ministries, Indiana

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Testimonials Idaho

• Testimonial 4
• We are just getting started in rental and allow
  guests to use our kitchen. Right now we require
  a food handlers certificate and try to orient the
  rental cooks as to equipment and food storage.
• Ed, Shiloh Bible Camp, Donnelly, Idaho

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Testimonials California

• Testimonial 5
• In California with all the regulation on health
  standards we do not rent out our kitchen. The
  liability of untrained people using our
  equipment, and bringing in food is not worth the
  risk.
• Tom, ECCO, Oakhurst, CA

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Testimonials California

• Testimonial 6
• We are a small camp in the Sierra Nevadas. We
  rent the kitchen, which is a full commercially
  equipped facility, for 75 per day or 5 per
  camper per day. My wife has her safe serve
  course, so she is the one who makes sure that
  they are observing the basics. The kitchen can
  serve about 200 at a time. We have not had any
  major problems and many groups like to have their
  own ethnic food. Tom, Pilot Lake, La Porte, CA

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Testimonials Texas

• Testimonial 7
• NO GO here in Galveston County. We are
  informed by the local and state health board
  inspector that our kitchen cant be used for
  cooking without a current health licensed cook.
  Mr. J, Camp Good News, TX
• Testimonial 8
• The state regulations state that they must be
  licensed by the health services, supervised by a
  licensed person, and must be a camp employee.
  Camp Arrowhead, TX

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Testimonials Texas

• Testimonial 9
• We are a bit unique in that we make our
  facilities available free of charge to guests
  groups. We have five different sites, each with
  their own commercial kitchen which we allow
  groups to use. One group per site. We require
  each group to give us a Certificate of Insurance
  documenting that they have named us as Primary
  Additional Insured on their Commercial General
  Liability (CGL) insurance policy and we require
  each group to give us a certificate of insurance
  documenting that they have a camper
  accident/illness policy in force for their
  event.
• John Worden, H.E. Butt Foundation, Kerrville,
  Texas

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Testimonials Texas

• Testimonial 10
• We do allow other groups to use our kitchen. We
  charge a 200 kitchen use fee and it must be left
  clean. We have never had a problem with
  anything. The other groups bring their own
  inventory. They may use some of our seasonings,
  but have never used enough to notice. It just
  hasnt ever been a problem for us.
• Donna, Camp Peniel, Marble Falls, TX

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Testimonials Minnesota

• Testimonial 11
• All groups have to prepare their own food. We
  have a capacity of 180 beds.
• We also will have a cook supervisor to oversee
  the use of the kitchen. This person supervises
  the use of the kitchen and will help with the
  cooking. You will still need people to help with
  kitchen duties. The camp does not provide any
  food.
• Doug, Grindstone Lake Bible Camp, Sandstone, MN

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Letting Go of the Spatula Reaction Summary

• Dont Go There!

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Why Some Camps DO Go There

• Residential Kitchens
• No Year Round Kitchen Staff
• Groups Grandfathered In
• Ethnic Groups
• Camps With Old and New Kitchens
• Unusual Meal Situations
• Financial Motivation
• By Choice

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Safeguards Health Department

• Certification
• Your staff supervise the 4 Ss
• Service
• Safety
• Security
• Sanitation
• Require certified guest leader
• Greg Hodgson, InterVarsity _at_ Toah Nipi, Rindge,
  NH

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Safeguards Health Department

• Varies by jurisdiction
• City, County, State may all differ
• Conflicting CCCA responses within a state
• Do your homework
• Separate kitchen may negate the issue

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Safeguards Liability

• Require Certificate of Insurance
• Camp named as Primary Additional Insured on CGL
• 1,000,000 liability
• Medical insurance proof
• Denominations share
• Require Cleaning Deposits
• Health Department Certification
• Clear Rental Contracts
• Spell out specifics
• No surprises

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Safeguards Testimonial Email
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Safeguards Testimonial Email
Dan Hamilton here at Pleasant Valley Christian
Camp. We are one of the few camps in the State
of Washington who still allows groups the option
of doing their own food service. The different
county's health dep. Require that the kitchen be
run by a certified cook who is under the
supervision of a lead person for the facility. In
some county's the health department also requires
the camps to submit there menus for revue. The
governing officials seam to need a job telling
everybody what to do and how to do it for the
"public good". Our county officials seam to be
under funded and have enough on their plates to
keep them busy. So for now we can still offer
the choice to the different rental groups. Joe,
I have been here for 21 years and in those years
I have never had to worry about a group damaging
the equipment or running off with the camp's
goods. The groups we rent to are Christian and
besides a mess of two, have conducted themselves
with honesty. I even offer the groups the
openness of our supplies in case they have
forgotten anything. I just ask that they keep a
record of it and let me know after the rental and
it will be added to there bill. Now and then you
may get a broken plate or two but that is to be
expected in any commercial kitchen. We want the
group's return business, for many years, so we
open our house and treat them like we would want
to be treated. We have had groups return here
every year that I have been here and in the long
run that much return business more than pays for
anything that may have been forgotten or
broken. I bill for vandalism and destruction but
not for where and tear. Most kitchen equipment
can take whatever can be dished out. It is built
tough to last and that is why it cost so much.
If equipment keeps braking with use then it is
time to get good new commercial equipment and
leave the donated cast off's behind. Your donor
base will pony up for good kitchen equipment. Now
I know that doing the cooking for the different
rental groups makes good money, but we have found
that one of the attractive draws to this camp as
opposed to the "carpet on the floors" camps down
the road, is the option for them to do their own
cooking. We got to pay for keep this place open
year around and we can not do that very well if
no one is renting. Groups want options and that
is what we give them. Thanks, Dan
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Safeguards Testimonial Email
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Safeguards Liability

• Post Rules
• Kitchen equipment operation
• Age requirements
• Commercial strength speed
• Basic food handling requirements
• Gloves
• Hair restraint
• Food storage
• Hands-on kitchen tour
• Demonstrate equipment
• Review posted rules
• Checkout walk through

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Examples

• 1. Dishroom procedure
• 2 Coffee machine
• 3 Shiloh page 3 Part V Rental Payment
• 4 Shiloh Camp rental rates
• 5 Camp Phillip retreat group checklist
• 6 Kitchen inventory
• 7 Kitchen orientation for cooks
• 8 Rental group cleaning for kitchen
• 9 Standards for sanitation at NGYC
• David Green, Northern Grace Youth Camp

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Examples Forms Signs
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Examples Forms Signs
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Examples Forms Signs
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Examples Forms Signs
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Examples Forms Signs
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Examples Forms Signs
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Examples Forms Signs
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Examples Forms Signs
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CCCA Camp Resources

• H.E. Butt Foundation
• http//hebuttcamp.org/FoundationCamps/UseRequireme
  nts.asp
• http//hebuttcamp.org/FoundationCamps/SuppliesCKLi
  st.asp

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CCCA Camp Resources

• H.E. Butt Foundation
• http//hebuttcamp.org/FoundationCamps/UseRequireme
  nts.asp
• http//hebuttcamp.org/FoundationCamps/SuppliesCKLi
  st.asp
• CCCA Kitchen Use Data Base
• Internet
• http//www.fightbac.org/ for free posters

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CCCA Camp Resources
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CCCA Camp Resources
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Cons of Letting Go

• Health Department
• Liability
• Can only house one group at a time
• Sanitation
• Food quality
• Theft and breakage
• Income loss from prepared food sales
• Managing and enforcing contracts

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Pros of Letting Go

• Keep historical group relationships alive
• Fewer kitchen staff needed in off season
• Give staff holiday weekends off
• Increased housing sales
• Increased ethnic group use
• Encourage smaller groups to attend
• Groups minister to each other by cooking
• Reduce money tied up in food inventory

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Letting Go of the Spatula Summary

• Individual camps choice
• Sound reasons on both sides of argument
• Might consider old kitchen/new kitchen model
• Realize the limitations
• Consider the advantages

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Dont Be Afraid to Let Go of the Spatula!