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Shannon Dooley and Julie Ricketson, both 37, arrived first for their lunch date last week and got to work right away.

Dooley pulled out the blender and began plucking the leaves from a colander full of strawberries. Ricketson concentrated on peeling cucumbers for the salad.

Twice a week every week for five years, the two women have joined Tim Kane, 49, and Rajesh Gentle, 38, for lunch at Community Support Services in Gaithersburg.

Community Support Services has been in business since 1994, providing community-based support and services to children and adults with autism and developmental disabilities. One of its newest programs is "Garden to Table," an initiative focused on using locally grown produce in homemade meals. Instructor Cindy Meredith teaches 10 classes per week for 45 adults with autism.

On Thursday's menu were tuna salad on whole wheat bagels, garden salad with sunflower seeds, carrots and strawberry-banana smoothies.

The agency hopes to expand Garden to Table with a new fundraiser through Global Giving, an online marketplace for nonprofit investors. A $10 donation will give one adult the tools to tend a vegetable and herb garden; $25 funds 10 cookbooks that can be sent home with the participants; $90 covers the cost of one class session for four to six people.

CSS hopes to raise $15,000 to expand the program to 80 adults and children.

The nonprofit agency has 330 employees and a $13 million annual budget, which comes mostly from the state to cover services such as in-home care, daytime care, job placement and special instruction for about 200 clients, said Ashley Parker, CSS communications and development manager. Programs like Garden to Table and sports teams are not covered by the state and are funded by private donations.

It's impossible to know how many individuals in Montgomery County have autism, Parker said, because no one tracks that number. A leading indication is the number of residents receiving services from the Maryland Development Disabilities Administration: about 2,500 adults and 2,000 children, Parker said. An equal number of residents are on the state's waiting list for services, she added.

Nationwide, 1.5 million Americans are thought to have a form of autism, according to The Autism Society of America.

Autism is a developmental disability, usually discovered during the first three years of life, which affects the normal functioning of the brain, particularly in the areas of social interaction and communication, according to the society.

Why focus on food?

At CSS, programs focus on developing relationships between adults on the autism spectrum and their family and community.

"The whole point of all of our programs is that we try to help these individuals live the most independent lives they can, of their choosing," Parker said. "We want to make sure whatever goals or wants or needs they have are met. If you want to be independent, you want to be able to cook your own food and make your own decisions."

The organization decided to focus on healthy eating out of concern that adults with autism experience obesity at a higher rate than the adult population. A 2006 University of Illinois study found adults with intellectual disabilities — which include more than autism — were 68 percent more likely to be obese than the general population. A January study in the journal Obesity found 23.4 percent of teenagers with autism were obese, compared to 14.8 percent of all teenagers.

"Most adults with autism have never received nutrition education during their lifetime," said Parker. "There's really been nothing targeted directly to them."

The program also helps improve social skills, Meredith said. "A big component of cooking as a group is communication. We really focus on not doing everything for them."

The Thursday lunchtime group has come a long way since its first session, Meredith said. Everyone feels at ease in the kitchen and falls into their tasks right away. Dooley and Kane converse about their jobs while they eat, pausing when Gentle asks someone to pass food.

"I think it really adds to the quality of life to get together and share a meal," Meredith said.

The lunch group has created another social phenomenon in the building: jealousy. "They make pizza bagels that are really good. My office is right down the hall and I smell it and think ‘Man, I want to eat that today; it's way better than my lunch,'" Parker said.

dgaines@gazette.net