'Remarkable Woman' winner 2025
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Over the years, 27 News has featured many local women who make a difference in the community and we are proud to announce the winner of this year's remarkable women competition: Carol Hamilton.
A Kansas native, Hamilton is a cooking instructor for the Capper Foundation. But she hasn't always worked in the culinary field.
"I catered for about 35 years," Hamilton said. "I didn't start out to be a caterer. I was a licensed cosmetologist at the Menninger Foundation."
As technology gradually took the place of face-to-face customer service, Hamilton decided to move away from catering and start a new job at the Capper Foundation.
"I've been fortunate to work here for, I think, going on 14 years now," Hamilton said. "I get to teach adults with disabilities, try to teach them some cooking skills. We try to keep it kind of simple, introducing them to some things that maybe they don't always get at home. Oh, I love the folks that come down. They just bring me so much joy and the fact that I can send home with them something nutritional, something that they made. Everybody's so unique. I just... I just love it."
Hamilton's passion for cooking has her leading by example and making a difference in her students' lives. She told Fox 43 News that, if anything, this is what she hopes her students take away from her classes.
"I just get really happy when I know that somebody did remember something from maybe a long time ago, because these folks are pretty challenged," Hamilton said. "One of my folks is blind. And we were making a chicken fried steak, that's a big favorite around here. Anyway, I was making the gravy out of the pan drippings. That was what we'd fried the steak in. And she said, 'I know you're going to make a roux.' I was so excited that she remembered that from a long time ago."
It's not all about the cooking for Hamilton. Spending time with her students means the most to her.
"I just hope they to give them an hour of my time and all of my attention," Hamilton said. "I know that the staff is kind of thin, and everybody needs a little one-on-one, maybe just a hug. They just get my full attention."
At 80 years old, Hamilton is grateful to be doing a job she loves every day.
"I just feel also blessed," she stated. "I know that people say that a lot, but I really am. I mean, you get to be this age and still get to work and be wanted."