The international nonprofit organization Cultured Kids Cuisine helps children build a future of love and tolerance through food. Managed by over 100 volunteers from around the world, the organization offers various free services for children aged 7 to 14, such as Food Anthropology, educational podcasts, a food blog, recipe kits, and classes.
Weekly virtual cooking workshops are also held. There, children can cook a foreign dish with a trained culinary team (volunteer chefs) while learning about the culture, history, and origins of the dish and its country of origin.
Since its founding in July 2020, the organization has impacted over 1,500 children worldwide, educating them to be kinder and more culturally understanding human beings, according to founder and CEO Mia Kotikovski.
Kotikovski began volunteering as a student in hospitals in New York, hoping to impact her community and explore her passion for health. “What worried me the most were the conditions in the pediatric wards of the hospitals, where children spent the critical early years of their lives with little or no intellectual or social stimulation. That bothered me.”
The founder was determined to help these children by combining her passion for food and cooking. She organized self-directed educational cooking classes for children with the hospital’s child services director, providing all supplies and ingredients out of her own pocket.
Initially, the volunteer team started with her and her friends, who shared the initiative with other friends; they also wanted to participate. “As many people were doing nothing during the pandemic, I thought it would be good to share this idea with people in my social network and other nonprofits internationally to share with their followers. That’s how we grew our team to what it is today,” says Mia Kotikovski.
Going against the pandemic crisis, the organization seized the moment and expanded its virtual connections, offering more accessible services to underrepresented children and others on an international scale.
Additionally, they invited speakers from across the country to give lectures and webinars that participants and the volunteer community could watch and participate in from the comfort of their own homes.
The founder and CEO, Mia Kotikovski, explains that, in addition to the main goal of promoting cultural awareness through food, the project helps close the gender gap in entrepreneurship through various resources, internship applications, a bi-monthly newsletter with opportunities from other organizations (internships, conferences, etc.), as well as weekly events.
“By providing our staff and the community with resources, support, and guidance, it gives confidence to girls, boosts self-esteem, and provides the foundation they need to succeed. Our Empowering Entrepreneurs series connects our girls with founders to serve as role models and mentors for them.”
The projects don’t stop; the organization is launching an eCookbook compiling recipes and cooking classes taught in the workshops. “What sets the book apart is that we are trying to create a family cooking experience, where children can get their hands dirty in the kitchen while parents help them and read aloud trivia about the origins, culture, and history of the dish and its country of origin, sparking engaging conversations in the kitchen.”
How can people participate & volunteer?
Although our “formal internship applications” will not be launched until May, we regularly accept applications for ambassadors. Our ambassadors play a vital role in our community; from outreach to potential partners to access to marketing workshops and lectures.
Applications are open only to girls/non-binary individuals in high school & college: https://forms.gle/skh3JEHU1bVFiB4GA