Many of you know I helped organize and run a seven-week cooking program for preteens at our local Hispanic center, the Community Resource Center (CRC) in Mamaroneck.

Now that our first cohort has graduated, we and the center made plans for it to continue. They found a director of the program, we scheduled the next series, we already had a waiting list based on the enthusiasm of the kids and parents in the first cohort.

And then I brought up, “Well, how is this going to be funded?”

Our contacts at the center were crestfallen. “Well, we really don’t have the funding. We are thinking of reducing the number of children, not starting now, and we can’t move forward yet with the contract with the director. We know we have to reach out to the finance and the development offices.”

I did come up with a few ideas, and the CRC sent an email out to us, the executive director of the center, and the head of development.

Within ten minutes Jirandy Martinez, the Executive Director replied.

“This is a successful program we have to continue. Please proceed to start the next cohort and hiring the new director. We will find the funds. Don’t worry about the funding.”

My response was, “I can’t help but worry about funding. It’s my nature.” (I admit, that’s not a great example of MindShifting, but hey, I’m only human.)

The director of fundraising replied, “Mitch, that’s my job to worry about! This is what I do. We have many options.”

Don’t you love it when things work out?

The image above is just one of the pictures of the joy from this program. This was from the final session, where the kids made savory and sweet crepes for their families. If you want to see the collection of photos, here is the link.

The program is not that expensive. Twelve kids over seven weeks. Including the costs of the new director, food, and cleanup, less than $2,500 for the whole thing, now that we have all the equipment. We hope to offer 5 programs a year. And I and the entire Larchmont Rotary team are invited back to participate!

And even though I am really happy, I still can’t help but worry. If you want to support the program, here is the donation link for the Community Resource Center, and make sure you stipulate, “Please use this to support the Cooking to Grow program”.