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Aging Like a Fine Wine - The Sonia Lesko Interview
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Jun 4, 2024
Today, Caren is joined by Sonia Lesko, owner of West Los Angeles Chefs for Seniors. It’s an inspiring conversation about reinvention, passion for cooking, and connecting people through food. Sonia shares her journey from Italy to the United States, where she followed her heart and found her purpose in serving the senior community. Her quest to give back, and her heartwarming vision of connecting people through the love of food, will motivate you to step into your light and discover your next adventure. #aginglikeafinewine #chefsforseniors #reinvention Check out Chefs For Seniors: https://chefsforseniors.com/west-los-angeles-area/ Click https://www.uncorked.online/napa-guide for your complimentary copy of The Ultimate Napa Travel Guide
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[Music]
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hello everyone Karen Glasser here and
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welcome to life Uncorked today's segment
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is called Aging like a fine wine and I'm
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here with Sonia leco she's the owner of
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the West Los Angeles chefs for seniors
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good afternoon Sonia how are you today I
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great thank you for having me Karen this
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is lovely I am so thrilled to have this
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conversation and this is all about
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people ordinary people who do
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extraordinary things and you're one of
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them um let's talk a little bit about
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your story and then how you got to where
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you are today take us back just a little
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bit how did you get here well I would
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like to
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um started with then I came in the
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United States in
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1997 I am Italian and swiss um raised in
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Switzerland from Italian parent and uh
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when I came in 1997 because I fell in
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love with the my
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husband we who I met in
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Switzerland and um so it was the um
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Valentine's Day on 1997 when I came here
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and the first things I learned and
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embraced and I was really happy about
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that in the United
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States for me has been very easy to to
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reinvent myself ah reinvention I love
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that I love that reinvented myself and I
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could have the opportunity to look into
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myself and see okay what do I want to do
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when I grow
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up I was in my 30 so and um and from
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then it's has been an exploration and uh
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I went to I started uh I continue
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actually my education special education
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here in the United States uh from where
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I left off in Switzerland and I signed
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up for classes then I went to Cate
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Northridge and I got my BA in child
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development and at that time my son was
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four years old and I a couple of years
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later that I graduated I bought my son's
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preschool basically the preschool where
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my son used to go oh wow little
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preschool in Venice
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California and uh I ran it for almost 10
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years and uh then I sold in
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2018 and uh I decided again to look into
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myself say now I a little older but I'm
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still growing up what I wanted to yes
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and uh so I wanted to put together my
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passion for cooking because I was raised
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in a family where the Italian family
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where then the and the cooking it's
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important is uh eating it's important it
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brings the family together right yes and
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so I like I wanted to I always like to
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cook and and uh love making pasta from
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scratch and so I wanted to do a business
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because now you know I once you have
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your own business start to go back
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working with someone else I wanted to
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continue working for myself being my own
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boss and maybe having people working
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with me and so when I was researching
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for um something to do in in with the
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cooking and came across to Chef for
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seniors this uh FR and the franchise
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opportunity um I looked it I fill out
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those three lines of information I sent
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it out and they call me within five
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minutes wow and I think they liked me
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and I like them and their purpose and
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and Chef being founded by the father and
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the son in Madison Wisconsin I I love
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this and you and what my audience
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doesn't know is that I actually met you
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through chefs for seniors yes in
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researching how to make sure that my
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parents who are seniors get um healthy
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delicious meals in and you know at their
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home and a little bit about chefs for
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seniors this is not your traditional
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they send you food and it's in these
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little packages how does chefs for
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seniors work Chef for senior does um
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basically um when I received the phone
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call and I set up an appointment with
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the with the potential clients and I go
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to the home I sit down with them and I
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go through a questioner likes and
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dislikes what they uh what their goal is
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what their needs are and uh and then we
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send a a chef the chef in the house of
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the seniors so that live independently
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and uh we have our own pots and pants
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but we're happy to use the client
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equipment for needed uh the chef buy the
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groceries that need to execute the meal
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so they don't have to worry that about
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buy py what they need so the chef Cooks
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uh put in containers that can be stored
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in the refrigerator in the freezer and
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then uh cleans up which is very
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important always the client ask does she
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clean up after right yes yeah what I
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what I realize with my parents is first
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of all the food is delicious there's
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there's that companionship here's the
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chef that becomes your reg almost like a
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family that comes in it's once a week
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every two weeks there she she or he are
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making food uh for the individuals in
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the household based upon their uh
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dietary issues you know low salt maybe
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it's kosher maybe it's vegetarian
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whatever it is and you provide that
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service and I am fascinated by this
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because I didn't even know this thing
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existed and I'm thrilled that you did
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the research and found them because this
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is literally a national company right
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this is not it is when I bought into
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shefford seniors in it was like
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2019 um I was number 41 in in as a
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franchisee and I was uh only we were two
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in the in California that time now I
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think they uh closed the 20 23 years
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with 95 96 franchises right and uh we
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are 12 or 13 here in California so
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that's amazing that's an amazing growth
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obviously um so you know I have to
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really ask you what drives you now in
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this stage of your life I mean you're
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doing chefs for seniors you just you did
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your research you started in 2019 it's
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2023 you're growing what's what's
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actually driving you why do you keep it
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it is giving back a little bit you know
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giving back a little because it's it's a
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service it's something that I can help
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people can provide I've been very
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fortunate in my life and uh so I want to
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do something that's as a as a meaning as
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that it's helpful and when I purchase
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into the
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franchise and talking with the franchis
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with Nathan and Barrett Allen all men
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sorry and they
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um I the first impression after hang up
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the phone with them said this is a
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business with a heart and that's really
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what I wanted oh that's that's wonderful
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so you know I always like to ask my
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guests this question that makes you
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think and and that is how do you want to
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be remembered as we as we travel on this
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journey called life and we have kids you
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have you have you know kids how do you
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want to be remembered do you want your
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kids to remember you in a certain way
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maybe as they get older and they have
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kids themselves the grandkids
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remembering you how do you want to be
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remembered about the good smell in my
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kitchen oh what a wonderful answer that
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that that that's it if I because that's
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what I remember from my childhood in
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images and this mess so that that to me
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when I think there are some moments that
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the hard in life and that I do this and
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and I smell my
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grandma's cooking oh I love that I
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love so Sonia what's next for you I know
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you're going to continue doing this are
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do you have other aspirations as well
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well it's um I try to grow the business
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much as possible obviously
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and um I am part of this um organization
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called Senior Services Foundation SSP
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and we are uh trying to get more
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involved with them and what we do is
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also provide services in general for
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seniors and they have in California
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different chapters so I hope to be a
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little bit um a p voice and in in that
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and what a great what a great um
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collaboration having you with the food
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and the the nurturing and this
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everything it's beautiful for those were
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watching right now we're going to show
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you how you can get in touch and learn
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more about chefs for seniors slw west-
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l-
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angeles-area but if you don't happen to
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live in California live somewhere else
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all you have to do is go to chefs for
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seniors and put in your zip code and it
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will show you where there is near you
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you can also follow Sonia on Instagram
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at chess for seniors West LA and then
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finally on Facebook at Chefs for seniors
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West Los Angeles any last minute
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thoughts
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Sonia
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um well the what uh the
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food it's
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at the
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table it's um somehow it's connect
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people and so and that's what I really
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would like to do would like to continue
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to cook for the my uh for the other
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people especially when those she just
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not for the people and with the hope
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that bring their family together sharing
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the meals we prepared and connect people
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through food that's that's wonderful
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Sonia thank you so much for sharing your
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journey your time your story thank you
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all of us thank you and we will see
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everyone next time have a great day
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everyone thank you
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[Music]
#Seniors & Retirement