Team Spotlight

CKC Good Food is honored to have teams managing kitchens at client partners’ sites throughout the Twin Cities. All our teams operate their kitchens efficiently and respectfully, under the direction of trained Food Service Managers who have their Food Protection Manager Certification. While they manage the daily operations independently, they have extensive ongoing support from the company’s corporate team, including Director of Client Services Laurie Yohn, SNS, DTR, CFPM and her Client Services Managers, who make regular visits to the schools and respond to any questions that arise.

Food Service Manager Veronica Martinez has been with CKC Good Food for nearly three years, working in several positions and different schools prior to becoming the Food Service Manager at Hope at the start of the 2023-24 school year. Before working at CKC Good Food, she cleaned offices.

Veronica is responsible for submitting meal counts, ordering food and supplies, helping prepare and serve the daily meals, completing daily food production records and making sure all the team members she supervises are comfortable and happy in their jobs. She enjoys her job and the opportunity to meet wonderful, hard-working people.

“I won't say everything is easy – sometimes it can be crazy and stressful,” she said. “We are doing the best we can. But there are little things bring me a lot of joy.”

One of those things is seeing the kids’ faces as they eat the food her team has prepared or when they tell her how grateful they are for the team’s work.

When she’s not working, she loves spending time with her family and friends. “I'm so blessed to have the most wonderful family,” she said, describing her husband as her partner, friend and the best father in the world. They have two kids: Eder, who is 31 years old and is “an amazing, hardworking and very responsible man;” and Veronica’s “little princess,” Viridiana, who is 29 years old. Veronica says she needs a whole page to convey how smart, beautiful, humble and kind her daughter is. Viridiana’s husband is like an adopted son to Veronica.            

Bee Yang has been a chef at CKC Good Food for four and a half years and at Panda Express previously. At Hope Community Academy, he preps and cooks the daily breakfast and lunch, and communicates with and supports the success of the entire team. He most enjoys prepping meals for the next day’s service and counting the number students who eat breakfast and lunch. When he’s not working, he plays video games and exercises.

Tommy Lee has been on the CKC Good Food team for four years. At Hope, he helps prep, cook and serve the meals. He likes everything about his job!

Leo Morales has been a prep team member for five months. He helps get breakfast and lunch assembled and cooked every day, makes snacks and washes dishes. He likes everything about his job, especially seeing the kids’ happy faces when they’re eating.

Before working for CKC Good Food, Leo worked in construction and still does side jobs in his free time. He also has a “honey-do” list to tackle. To relax, Leo goes camping, attends church and takes naps. He has lived in Minnesota for four years and loves it here.

Abraham Giovanni Garcia Cruz (not pictured) joined CKC Good Food earlier this month as a prep worker at Hope. He’s helping prepare and serve meals to students, which, so far, he enjoys. The job is a good fit for him as he worked in a bakery before starting at CKC Good Food. When he’s not working, he dedicates his time to his family and resting. He and his wife have two children.