Kids Serving Community...
...home made pasta dinners in the North Fork Valley since March 2009. For each dinner, a group of volunteers ages seven and up mix and knead balls of pasta dough and roll out fresh noodles to serve with the marinara sauce prepared from the local fall harvest. When the dinner guests arrive, they greet them and take care of dinner service.
The idea for the Kids’ Pasta Project sprouted as some local kids churned out homemade pasta in the kitchen and played restaurant. Initially, KPP set out to create educational opportunities by involving kids in implementing fundraising dinners for a school, but it soon evolved into a way to raise funds for local causes and help kids learn about community and philanthropy.
Dinner guests make advance reservations to ensure that there is enough space for everyone. An average of 40 guests attend each dinner, depending on the venue. The profits from the dinner are donated to a local organization. These organizations are referred to as a “Partner-Recipients” because they partner with KPP to help advertise the dinner, optimize the fundraising potential (by organizing silent auctions, membership drives or other sales at the dinners) and educate both guests and volunteers about the work they do for the community.
The North Fork Valley is known for its small farms and vineyards, not to mention its pioneering spirit. Local produce is used as much as possible in the recipes that are also developed by the kids. In addition, many sponsors donate or give discounted prices for food and/or provide other services in support of the project. During the 2012 and 2013 harvest season, volunteers gathered to make sauce to use throughout the year using produce from the KPP Sauce Plot at Thistle Whistle Farm. Some of the KPP kids met at the Sauce Plot throughout the summer to learn the process of growing this produce.
Sustainability is a central goal of the Kids’ Pasta Project. One aspect of that concept is cultivating the kids’ capacity to run both the restaurant and business operations, including publicity, bookkeeping, recipe development and more. Trainings are offered for new volunteers and also for volunteers working in specific areas of dinner management. KPP is working to develop a teen internship program in which teens with mentors to learn specific administrative skills involved in running the organization. Through working at the dinners and being involved in behind-the-scenes work, kids develop team building, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
Youth volunteers maintain “KPP Work Journals” to keep records of KPP work and accomplishments so that they can show potential future employers the training and work that they have accomplished.
The kids also learn about the community they serve through working with the Partner-Recipient organizations and serving their guests.
With the aim of creating a special recognition dinner for community organizations and honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.’s National Day of Service, a group of Kids’ Pasta Project volunteers got together in November of 2009 to develop the annual “Building Bridges Service Award.” Inspired by the MLK National Day of Service, the award is given to an organization that the volunteers feel strengthens our community, empowers individuals to serve our local community and that builds bridges between different people and groups.
Kids’ Pasta Project…Inspiring the North Fork Valley community, one meal at a time!
The idea for the Kids’ Pasta Project sprouted as some local kids churned out homemade pasta in the kitchen and played restaurant. Initially, KPP set out to create educational opportunities by involving kids in implementing fundraising dinners for a school, but it soon evolved into a way to raise funds for local causes and help kids learn about community and philanthropy.
Dinner guests make advance reservations to ensure that there is enough space for everyone. An average of 40 guests attend each dinner, depending on the venue. The profits from the dinner are donated to a local organization. These organizations are referred to as a “Partner-Recipients” because they partner with KPP to help advertise the dinner, optimize the fundraising potential (by organizing silent auctions, membership drives or other sales at the dinners) and educate both guests and volunteers about the work they do for the community.
The North Fork Valley is known for its small farms and vineyards, not to mention its pioneering spirit. Local produce is used as much as possible in the recipes that are also developed by the kids. In addition, many sponsors donate or give discounted prices for food and/or provide other services in support of the project. During the 2012 and 2013 harvest season, volunteers gathered to make sauce to use throughout the year using produce from the KPP Sauce Plot at Thistle Whistle Farm. Some of the KPP kids met at the Sauce Plot throughout the summer to learn the process of growing this produce.
Sustainability is a central goal of the Kids’ Pasta Project. One aspect of that concept is cultivating the kids’ capacity to run both the restaurant and business operations, including publicity, bookkeeping, recipe development and more. Trainings are offered for new volunteers and also for volunteers working in specific areas of dinner management. KPP is working to develop a teen internship program in which teens with mentors to learn specific administrative skills involved in running the organization. Through working at the dinners and being involved in behind-the-scenes work, kids develop team building, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
Youth volunteers maintain “KPP Work Journals” to keep records of KPP work and accomplishments so that they can show potential future employers the training and work that they have accomplished.
The kids also learn about the community they serve through working with the Partner-Recipient organizations and serving their guests.
With the aim of creating a special recognition dinner for community organizations and honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.’s National Day of Service, a group of Kids’ Pasta Project volunteers got together in November of 2009 to develop the annual “Building Bridges Service Award.” Inspired by the MLK National Day of Service, the award is given to an organization that the volunteers feel strengthens our community, empowers individuals to serve our local community and that builds bridges between different people and groups.
Kids’ Pasta Project…Inspiring the North Fork Valley community, one meal at a time!