By Chrissa Carlson, Executive Director
A few weeks ago, Chela Cooper, the Farm's fabulous Chef Educator, sent me an email sharing the story of two students from Edmondson Westside High School who had placed first and second in a regional culinary competition sponsored by the NAACP. Their acheivement earned them a chance to compete in the national competition in Las Vegas this summer.
Chef Cooper writes: "In order to participate, they are each required to come up with $350 to contribute to the expenses of the trip: plane tickets, room and board, and competition supplies (ingredients, etc.). NAACP will pay for the rest. With the help of their chef instructor, Faith Kling, Jamal and Dominique have collectively raised about a third of the funds from their teachers.
"Jamal was very active in various Great Kids Farm programs this past year. He participated in the Good Food Summit, preparing and presenting dishes made with Great Kids Farm squash to the 100 young participants; he helped make lunches for students for the Healthy Eating, Healthy Living Summits; he volunteered to help with the cooking demonstration sponsored by Great Kids Farm at the high school choice fair; he was one of the students from Edmondson who prepared and served the ICEO dinner last fall; and he was one of the students selected to be in the first episode of the City Schools Cooking Show. He’s a very talented young chef, and a wonderful young person.
"Jamal and Dominique helped each other raise funds, even though they are technically competing with one another. This is one of the wonderful things I’ve found about Baltimore City Schools students – hard-working students take full advantage of their education and move towards making better lives for themselves, and genuinely want their peers to succeed, too. This gives me so much hope."
Her email concluded with an inquiry as to whether Friends might coordinate a crowdsourcing or other campaign to raise the remaining funds for their trip.
A quick discussion with our board president concluded exactly what I had hoped: Friends would fund the remainder of the cost of attending the competition. It's exactly why we exist: to be responsive to the needs of the Farm and of students. Our supporters generously donate money to support our work because they believe in the power of the Farm's experiential education programs to help students toward successful careers. It's our job to direct those funds to their best and highest use.
We've asked Jamal and Dominique to document their trip, and look forward to sharing their stories and photos in our newsfeed. If you'd like to help Friends respond to meaningful causes such as these, consider making a donation--our ability to contribute a few hundred dollars to support opportunities and programs for our students can mean the difference between grabbing onto or missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Good luck Dominique and Jamal!