From the football field to the kitchen

Rich Palzewic

Staff

June 16, 2025

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer and former Wisconsin Badgers offensive lineman Mark Tauscher recently traded in his football jersey for a cooking apron.

Mark, along with his wife, Sarah, are tackling hunger in the community through a first-of-its-kind culinary program for kids called Tausch’s Cooking Camp to Tackle Hunger.

The eight-week pilot program – thanks to funding from TDS Telecommunications LLC (TDS®) and a partnership with FoodWIse, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin and the Boys and Girls Club – helped dozens of kids learn nutrition and cooking skills at Boys and Girls Clubs in Green Bay, Menasha and Appleton.

The couple said the program’s first session launched earlier this spring and recently wrapped up.

“Overall, it went great,” Sarah said. “There were about 10 kids per club, and they loved it. We got great responses from the kids. They wanted to know if we could start the next session this summer, but unfortunately, we need a little more time. We’re regrouping with our partners and looking to launch phase two (soon).”

Sarah said she and Mark hope the next version of Tausch’s Cooking Camp will include more Boys and Girls Clubs across the state.

“We like this timeframe (of the year),” she said. “We’ve had a lot of interest and need to figure out what locations we’re going to next and how many make sense for the second phase. We want to make sure we can scale it up from a pilot to a larger-scale program.”

The couple said the mission of Tausch’s Cooking Camp is simple: “to empower young minds with the knowledge they need to make healthy choices and the confidence to be chefs in the kitchen.”

Through a combination of education, hands-on activities and interactive workshops, they said the program aims to equip kids with the skills needed to prepare simple, nutritious meals.

“Sarah went to the Menasha launch, and I got up to the one in Green Bay,” Mark said. “The cool (part) was sitting down with the kids and going through the packet and the process of cooking. It was really fun to see how the different kids got involved. I put an apron on, jumped into the kitchen and did my thing. Some kids jumped right in, while some kids sat back for a bit to see how it went. The recipe I did was one-pot spaghetti.”

Sarah said FoodWIse – which is part of the UW Extension – helped provide the educational component for the program each week.

“There was a combination of a recipe but then also a bit of learning related to the recipes and nutrition,” she said. “It was fun to get the reaction from the kids on the recipes we did and what they learned. I did the final week and gave everyone a certificate of completion and got their feedback.”

Sarah said one of the participants even submitted recipes for the next phase.

“He was very shy the first time we met, but by the end, he had written a list of recipes he wanted included in the next phase,” she said. “It was exciting because he had some new skills he wanted to learn and had some ambitious recipes. The real focus of the recipes was around shelf-stable ingredients and things you can get from Feeding America.”

The purpose of a pilot program, Sarah said, was to learn things and improve for the next time.

“We definitely learned,” she said. “We got great feedback from the kids with things they want to do differently, ingredients they don’t like and different things they want to learn.”

Additionally, Sarah said some kids want to see two different camps.

“Some of the kids who went through the first phase would like there to be an ‘advanced’ camp where they can learn and build on the skills they now have,” she said. “There are a lot of things we’re looking at and considering (for phase two).”

Years in the making

Though Mark said he likes to “get things done ASAP,” he knew to make the program successful, it needed time – “that’s where Sarah came in.”

“I’m like, ‘Let’s get this done in five weeks,’” he laughed. “Sarah has really been the driver behind all of this. It took a bit longer (to organize), but it’s been done a lot better than it would have turned out if I were just doing it. Sarah has done a great job working with all of the different partners, has done the meetings and made sure everybody’s objectives and goals for what this program is going to be were met.”

One might think that because the Tauschers helped organize the cooking camp, they must have a cooking background.

“No, (that’s not the case),” Mark laughed. “I think a lot of this stems from us cooking as a family a lot more during COVID-19. My son has a passion for cooking, and it was something we wanted to do with our kids. Then, I partnered with Feeding America, and all of this came together. Feeding America brought the idea up, and then TDS and the Boys and Girls Club got involved. It’s great because there are three or four different entities involved. That’s how it all started.”

Sarah said they noticed that as their son’s confidence grew, the more successful he became with his cooking.

“He not only gained confidence in the kitchen, but he also has confidence now to try different things (outside of the kitchen),” she said.

Using his platform

Mark, who played his entire 11-year pro-football career with the Packers (2000-10), is an Auburndale High School graduate.

He walked on with the Badgers in 1995 before eventually being selected in the seventh round of the 2000 NFL Draft.

A member of the winning Super Bowl XLV team – which earned a 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers – Mark said using his platform has provided him with an opportunity to give back.

“Besides the cooking camp, literacy has been a big cause for me,” he said. “We still do the TRIFECTA Foundation (Tauscher’s Reading Initiative For Every Child To Achieve). Its mission is to promote and support literacy and education throughout the State of Wisconsin.”

The cooking camp, Mark said, is another good example of teamwork.

“I always stress teamwork to our kids and how important that has always been,” he said. “A lot of times, you have individual goals you want to accomplish, but this program was really about working with your teammates.”

More than financial support

Though TDS was the major financial partner of the program, Sarah said they contributed in ways beyond that.

Working with the team at TDS, she said, has been “an incredible experience.”

“They did a lot of brainstorming, logistics and helped with designing things,” she said. “This has really been a true partnership. We wouldn’t be where we are without the team at TDS. Yes, from a financial standpoint, they were an incredible partner, but they were a true partner – well beyond contributing the funds to help us get the program off the ground.”

Dawn Nowakowski, TDS’ regional field marketing manager for Wisconsin, said serious talks about the cooking camp go back about two years.

“I was at a Feeding America event at Lambeau Field, and Mark and (former Packers running back) AJ Dillon were speaking to the group of donors and sponsors for Feeding America,” she said. “TDS has been supporting Feeding America since I’ve been in my role in Northeast Wisconsin.”

From there, Nowakowski said she started chatting with the Tauschers and got the ball rolling.

“We kept talking, brainstorming ideas and began working with the Boys and Girls Club,” she said. “We probably talked for the better part of a year on the planning. We had really big ideas, but then we worked them down to something more scalable. We thought the best way was to pilot and test something first and then come back to rethink best practices.”

Nowakowski said Sarah “worked really hard on the program.”

“I came along to let everyone know TDS supported the program – it was a great community partnership for us,” she said. “We’ve supported the Boys and Girls Club in the past, so there was a lot of synergy. I think the pilot program was highly successful.”

For the most part, Nowakowski said she doesn’t think there is too much that needs to be changed with the program.

“We learned kids don’t like tuna,” she laughed. “We also feel the age group – middle schoolers – is the perfect age for this. The Boys and Girls Club knows their kids, and they thought it would be the best age group to work with.”

Moving forward, Nowakowski said TDS will “absolutely continue” its financial support for the cooking camp.

“My goal is to help Sarah bring in other corporate partners,” she said. “We want it to grow, but if we want to scale it across the state to multiple Boys and Girls Clubs, we’re going to need additional partners.”

More information can be found on the camp’s Instagram page, as well as on the Boys and Girls Clubs websites in Appleton, Menasha and Green Bay.