A hot and hearty bowl of Mediterranean lentil soup was the perfect menu item to take the chill off a cold winter day at the Barre/Hardwick Senior Center, thanks to UMass Chan Medical School students.
The students are leading “Cultivating Connections,” a monthly, hands-on culinary workshop for area residents at the senior center, to provide shared meals; teach hands-on cooking skills tailored to common senior dietary needs; and create a welcoming space for learning, conversation and community. The program hosts as many as 30 seniors each month in the center’s kitchen and recreational area.
The project is made possible thanks to a 2025 Remillard Family Community Service Fund award and is being led by medical students Sophie Lewis, Katherine Specht and Logan Thornton; with guidance from Nicholas Hajj, MD, assistant professor of family medicine & community health; and Suzanne Cashman, DSc, professor emeritus of family medicine & community health.
“Thanks to the generosity of the Remillard Family grant, we’ve been able to prepare healthy meals alongside dozens of seniors at the Barre/Hardwick Senior Center. This collaboration provides a hands-on way to stay engaged, practice skills and build confidence, and many leave feeling more comfortable making these meals at home,” Thornton said.
Lewis, Specht, and Thornton are all rural health scholars and each student represents one of the medical school campuses: Thornton is a student at the Worcester campus; Lewis is a Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health track student at the UMass Chan-Baystate regional campus; and Specht is a LEAD@Lahey track student at the UMass Chan-Lahey regional campus.
“This program has demonstrated the vital role community-based initiatives play in addressing health disparities and supporting our rural populations,” Specht said. “Health is comprehensive; it’s not just the dietary and exercise recommendations that we offer, but also opportunities to connect with others and build a community. Engaging with seniors outside of a clinical setting has reaffirmed my motivation for pursuing medicine.”
Photo: Bryan Goodchild
On Friday, Jan. 16, Thornton and Lewis began their morning at Wholesome Farmers Market, a grocery store in Barre, checking off their shopping list and making sure they had enough to feed the folks at the senior center. In the senior center kitchen, they were joined by several other UMass Chan medical students, including Lindsay Korsen, KeeSeok Lee, Madeleine Schwede and Matthew Segil. They led an assembly line of senior participants getting the Mediterranean lentil soup ready to serve for lunch by helping chop onions, carrots, celery and kale, and crush garlic.
The students are joined at each monthly workshop and meal by two clinical inpatient dietitians from UMass Memorial Health, Hannah Cavaretta, MPH, RD, LDN; and Emily Sharron, MS, RD, LDN.
Cavaretta said the recipes and workshop materials are adapted for common senior dietary restrictions, such as heart, kidney and gastroenterology diseases; cancer; and issues with chewing or swallowing. “We take that all into account when we’re deciding which food we should make, and we emphasize a heart healthy or high fiber diet. There’s a lot that goes into deciding which recipes are best and can meet most of the population’s needs,” she said.
“There’s a lot of great benefits for preventing disease through the Mediterranean diet, but one of the important aspects of the diet is community and enjoying a meal with others. We’re able to provide this workshop, giving them a sense of community and a home cooked meal that fits within their dietary needs,” Sharron said.
The Cultivating Connections workshop was built upon and influenced by other programs started by UMass Chan alum Jennifer Marino, MD’25, at the Barre Family Health Center and the Barre/Hardwick Senior Center, addressing the “SNAP gap” in Barre.
“We were really inspired by Dr. Marino’s work and that partnership, which motivated us to continue our work in Barre. By placing a greater emphasis on the dietary aspects of the meals we provide, ensuring they are affordable, and by offering education about what we’re cooking and how to make informed dietary choices, we’ve been able to further build on the program,” Lewis said.
The next installment of the cooking series is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 6, with a theme of “Meals that Reduce the Need to Snack.” Additional information about the program can be found on the Barre Council of Aging website and at Wholesome Farmers Market.
