“I get more satisfaction from this than from my paid job”

Paula van Voorthuysen is a manager in a hospital. In addition, she volunteers at Van de Kook, an initiative that has been around for over 20 years and guides ‘participants’ – people with intellectual disabilities – during their work in the restaurant. Together, they prepare a three-course menu for guests on a weekly basis at a very reasonable price.

Cooking at Van de Kook“I have always been socially involved,” Paula says. “Back then, I had a foster child whom I took care of one weekend a month. It was very intense but also very rewarding. At that time (around 2009), I was looking for more activities and stumbled upon Van de Kook by chance. With my background as a dietitian, this appealed to me a lot, and I cooked with them one evening. I felt right at home. When a position opened up on the board, I also joined.”Washing dishes with earplugs“At Van de Kook, there is a close-knit group of volunteers. New volunteers often join through word of mouth, but turnover is also high due to new jobs or expanding families. Finding new participants with disabilities is a bit more challenging. The older participants have been with Van de Kook for a long time. There is hard work involved, but there is also a lot of attention for them. Participants need to be able to work independently and be social, which can sometimes be a bit challenging. But everyone learns from working at Van de Kook. When one of our participants started here, he only did the dishes with earplugs in. Now he is very social and open towards people.”“Valuable is the contact you have and being able to make a difference for the people here. Recently, someone joined who fits in very well. That makes you happy. There is a very different atmosphere here compared to the other jobs our participants have.”Participants can be very honest and direct“Recently, there was a girl who needed a lot of guidance and preferred to stay seated. At the end of the evening, we all clean up together and I asked her: ‘Can you empty the trash cans in the toilets?’ After she had done one toilet, she sat down again. When I asked if she had done the other one as well, she said: ‘No, I haven’t gotten to that yet.’ That was quite funny.”

“Another funny incident came from our Ajax fan. A customer was teasing him a bit about PSV. He then came to me to complain and said ‘that we shouldn’t allow these kinds of guests in our restaurant anymore. He would have preferred to kick them out already.”

What have you learned from your volunteer work for Van de Kook?“Actually, I learn the most from the interaction. I am now one of the oldest, and I work with many other young volunteers. People with commercial jobs, they are much quicker than the people in the hospital. I enjoy switching between people and have also improved my cooking skills for large groups. Not every dish is suitable for Van de Kook. I prefer not too complicated but tasty and healthy recipes. Putting together a menu is something I learned in dietetics, but you also need to have a knack for cooking. I often come to eat as a guest myself, then they all come to sit at my table and immediately stop working…”

Is this something for you too?

Eetcafé Van de Kook (open every Friday evening) is always looking for new volunteers. Do you enjoy being hands-on, interacting with people, and can you cook well or do you prefer to be behind the bar? Email [email address].info@eetcafevandekook.nl.Would you like to eat here sometime?The restaurant is located in the Oranjekerk at 2.^evan der Helststraat. Reservation is necessary, as they cook based on the number of reservations. This can be done through the same email address.

Are you curious about other volunteer opportunities?We are happy to help you find something that suits you. You can take a look yourself inour online job board(with nearly 1500 volunteer opportunities in Amsterdam) orMake an appointment at one of our locations, and then we will look and think along with you.Text and photos: Helen Kooistra