Changing Lives Kids in the Kitchen and Top Chef

Good nutrition is so important! Teaching young students to eat food with sustenance and quality ingredients helps their overall health which in turn helps them be successful in school. JLOC volunteers at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County educate children on a variety of interactive healthy eating topics.

JLOC Volunteers sign up for weekly sessions either for the Kids in the Kitchen or Top Chef program. Kids in the Kitchen volunteers give a lesson on healthy nutritional habits and provide a fun and healthy snack for the children to make during the lesson.

with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County

Project Manager, Alley Cottrell described her favorite part about this community placement, “It has been so much fun seeing the Top Chef kids become more and more confident in their kitchen skills! My favorite memory was probably watching the students successfully execute a steak dinner with gouda mac and cheese and green beans!”

JLOC’s Kids in the Kitchen/Top Chef placement also celebrated a special accomplishment this year. One of the students who has participated in JLOC activities at the Boys & Girls Club of Oklahoma County since elementary school is graduating high school

Kids On Track Participant Wins First Place

JLOC volunteers for the Kids on Track placement work with children at the Boys & Girls Club of Oklahoma County to promote healthy lifestyles through exercise. Kids on Track meets every Monday. Volunteers spend an hour with the kids working on running and healthy activities and games, followed by health snacks. Rachel Benbrook and Kelsey Henry were Project Managers for the Kids on Track community placement for 2022-23.

This year, 18 kids were involved with the Kids on Track program. These kids got new tennis shoes and prepared to run the Kids Marathon with the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. In the Kids Marathon, kids run a total of 26 miles throughout the year and run the final 1.2 miles together at the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. This year, one of the kids in the Kids on Track program won First Place! this year and will be going to college! She often exclaims how happy she is that she will have cooking skills to take with her when she is living on her own and will be responsible for feeding herself.

JLOC volunteers at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County. Pictured here, front row, left to right: Taylor Downey Trousdale, Ashley Ewers, Rachel Benbrook, Lauren Ford, Kelsey Shaver, Danielle Cotto. Back row, left to right: Sammi Payne, Gabrielle Thompson, Kelsey Henry, Emily Burris, Sarah Decker.

JLOC volunteers ran the Kids Marathon with Kids on Track participants. Pictured here is the Kids on Track group after the end of the Kids Marathon.

JLOC provisional members volunteered at Infant Crisis Services, a longtime community partner of JLOC.

Infant Crisis Services

JLOC Members in the Infant Crisis Services (ICS) community placement serve at monthly diaper packing sessions. ICS serves babies and toddlers under the age of four by providing formula, diapers, food, blankets, clothing and other basic necessities. Volunteers assist ICS by creating diaper packs for infants and toddlers. JLOC donated almost $7,000 worth of diapers to ICS to support this mission. Volunteers count, sort, and pack diapers that ICS then distributes to its clients. To date, during this League year, JLOC volunteers have packed over 45,430 individual diapers and over 1,022 infants and toddlers (diaper packs usually include about 40-50 diapers a piece).

Sarah DeWitt was Project Manager for the JLOC Infant Crisis Services community placement for 2022-23.