Local man awarded foodways grant
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MIFFLINTOWN -- For Sergio Herrera-Mondaca of Mifflintown, cooking is inseparable from family life.
"This goes way back to my childhood when my grandmother would cook all kinds of typical foods to sell in Chile in our neighborhood," Herrera-Mondaca said. He proudly continues these family traditions and his Chilean empanadas sold out in under an hour last August as part of local non-profit Community Partnerships' Blue Juniata Foodways events.
Herrera-Mondaca was recently awarded a Grow Appalachia grant from the 2023 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowship Awards for $4,000.
The funds will help Herrera modernize his cooking process including the purchase of kneading and stirring machines.
The highly competitive grant process included a thorough review to select top candidates. Herrera-Mondaca's application stood out as "a demonstration of his current and previous impact within a foodways tradition" according to Candance Mullins, Grow Appalachia Executive Director.
Herrera-Mondaca's sister and Community Partnerships' Outreach Specialist Javiera Herrera-Mondaca helped to translate and complete the application.
Community Partnerships will continue to celebrate foodways tradition-bearers including Sergio with more programming planned for later this year.
In partnership with the PA Council on the Arts, Community Partnerships also funds Apprenticeships in Folk and Traditional Arts, including but not limited to foodways traditions. This funding is designed for traditions that are passed down from one person, often family or friends, to another. A master artist in a traditional art is paid to share their tradition with an apprentice through this program with awards averaging between $3000 and $4000.
Applications are due April 17, 2023.
Visit cpartnerships.com for more information on the Apprenticeships program and guidelines for applying.