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project leader
Stacey O
location
Astoria
Queens (Astoria)
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the project

Free healthy cooking classes for children ages 4 to 15!

In hands-on, activity-filled cooking lessons we explore local, seasonal, vegetarian, soy-free, nut-free, and often lactose-free international cuisine with children. We're less concentrated on drilling in "what's good for us" and more on finding out that cooking is fun (by cooking healthy recipes)! Together we develop basic kitchen skills: kitchen safety, knife skills, how to measure ingredients properly, explore kitchen tools, and more (parents often learn a thing or two too!). Through this process, the hope is we realize cooking nourishing food that is good for us doesn't have to be labeled "healthy," but is still tasty.

At the end of every lesson we have the opportunity to taste the dish we've made together and take home the recipe.

the steps

I currently have a number of interested parents and local groups. Expansion of host locations in the neighborhood is necessary to expand the classes which can be accomplished through phone calls once funding is in place.
Funding to update and expand teaching/ cooking supplies is necessary as well as labor and food costs.

why we're doing it

Since 2008 I have taught healthy cooking to NYC public school students at after-school programs, summer camps and with the Greening Libraries Initiative at Queens Library. My desire is to bring the message closer to home through hands-on cooking classes for kids I have developed through my years of experience.

Classes are offered free of charge to allow all income levels to participate. The language of food is universal and I often work with non-English speakers with little problem. Cooking often engages children that don't have a proper outlet in a traditional classroom and allows them the freedom to express delicious creativity and share it with their loved ones.

The classes address healthy eating, obesity, local food systems, food justice, and more.

budget

Labor (teacher + assistant) includes recipe development, purchasing, prep, teaching and clean up- $450x2 classes= $900 Gas (picking up food, transport to location)- $8x2 classes= $16 Paper/ink (for recipes)- $3x2 classes= $6 Food costs- (aprox, depends on recipe)$100x2 classes= $200 50 chef hats (paper chef caps/ GrowingCooks.com)- $15.50 1 BroilKing Ultra Lg Griddle (Amazon)- $56.88 1 Extension Cord (Coleman 02577-0A 25-Foot neon pink outdoor extension cord / Amazon)- $26.92 1 Portable burner (Waring SB30 1300-Watt Portable Single Burner/ Amazon)- $49.95 1 Immersion Blender (Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender w Whisk & Chopper/ Amazon)- $34.73 10 Mixing bowls (4-quart stainless steel / Amazon)- $79.90 15 sets Prep bowls (Oggi 3-inch stainless steel bowl w airtight lids, set of 3 / Amazon)- $74.85 5 mixing spoons (Tovolo 12-inch solid silicone mixing spoon/ Amazon)- $39.95 3 sets measuring cups/ spoons (8-piece Deluxe Stainless Steel Measuring Cup and Spoon Set/ Amazon)- $9.93x3= $29.79 5 potato mashers (Jaime Oliver Stainless Steel Masher/ Amazon)- $64.95 project total = $1595.42 ioby fee = $127.63 total to fundraise = $1725

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photos

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donors

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