Friends who cook together, stay together

Florence Walde and Sheryl Giudici have cooked together for the past 20 years.

They met at church, through mutual friends, about 35 years ago and have found themselves running church kitchens, soup kitchens and MDS kitchens together over the past two decades of their friendship.

“Any church event, it’s usually Sheryl and Florence in the kitchen,” laughed Giudici.

Walde began volunteering with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) eight years ago. Alongside her husband, Reg Walde, she signed up as a weekly volunteer to respond to Hurricane Joaquin’s damage in South Carolina. When the assistant cook fell sick on Walde’s second day of the assignment, she found herself in the kitchen — and has served as a cook with MDS ever since.

Florence Walde prepares supper for MDS Shuswap volunteers near Adams Lake, British Columbia. MDS photo/Nikki Hamm Gwala

Giudici first volunteered with MDS in Monte Lake, British Columbia, as assistant cook to Walde three years ago. The assignment was close to the friends’ home community of Kamloops, British Columbia, and like at church Giudici and Walde have continued their legacy as cooks, together, on MDS assignments since then.

This year, Walde and Giudici committed to cook for the full duration of the Shuswap response, a one-house build near Adams Lake, British Columbia. It was close to home and a unique experience.

The two spent a few weeks as cooks at last year’s Shuswap response. “We felt so needed and so rewarded at Scotch Creek last year… the community was amazing. So, we were hoping that there would be another project out there,” explained Walde.

Before they were asked, the friends agreed that they would say yes if a Shuswap opportunity came up this spring. But the second year of this response presented the two with an unusual cooks’ assignment.

2025 MDS Shuswap volunteers were housed on a build site near Adams Lake, British Columbia. This set up included RVs, an outdoor shower, a kitchen trailer and tented dining hall. MDS photo/Nikki Hamm Gwala

The volunteer camp was located on the homeowner’s rural property, complete with RV accommodations, an outdoor shower, a kitchen trailer and a tented dining hall. On most MDS responses, volunteers are housed and fed at an accommodation separate from building sites. It means that cooks tend to be further removed from the building process and opportunities to get to know disaster survivors.

The kitchen trailer is jointly owned by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta and MDS Canada. “It’s unbelievably helpful. It just changes everything really,” said Giudici.

While most responses require cooks to prepare breakfast and supper for the crews, Giudici and Walde have prepared food and drink for the Adams Lake volunteers five times a day. Breakfast, two coffee breaks, lunch and supper, they explained.

Walde acknowledged that the two have gone above and beyond what’s expected, “We’re kind of the creators of our own destiny, in that way.”

She admitted that it was tiring. “Because we’re 69 now,” added Giudici. But the two don’t dwell on their energy levels. Instead, they focus on the house going up outside their trailer window.

Sheryl Giudici prepares roasted sweet potato for a volunteer supper at the MDS Shuswap response near Adams Lake, British Columbia. MDS photo/Nikki Hamm Gwala

“This job does not survive without these two. They are the glue to what gets done here,” reciprocated Response Coordinator Ivan Giesbrecht.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding. And we both really, really like cooking,” said Walde. “You start getting to know people, and you make the jokes, like we made a batch of cookies yesterday and divided them in half. This is raisin for Ken and chocolate chips for Stan. You know, we do that.”

“I think sometimes we challenge some of the older Mennonite taste buds,” added Giudici.

“It’s important to me that people are happily fed, you know, and maybe surprised occasionally,” said Walde.

What advice do the pair have for first-time MDS cooks? Try an assistant cook position first. Do some menu planning in advance and build off of a basic grocery list.

“It’s fun,” said Giudici. “The best part is all the people we’ve met.”

Nikki Hamm Gwala, MDS Canada Communications

Sheryl Giudici (left) and Florence Walde prepare supper for MDS Shuswap volunteers in a kitchen trailer. MDS photo/Nikki Hamm Gwala