Boys & Girls Club members getting excited for Christmas at the clubs
CBS Colorado's Together for Colorado Toy Drive collects new, unwrapped toys for children ages 5 -18 to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. Many of the members rely on the clubs as a place they can feel safe, have the space and support to relax and just be children, and get opportunities to expand their horizons.
"Do I take the skin off?" one club member asked as he got ready to chop up an onion.
The club members are taking a cooking class put on by Sticky Fingers Cooking. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver gets grant money to pay for 40 of these kinds of classes a year. Sticky Fingers Cooking is one of four partners that bring the classes into the clubs.
The boys teamed up to make an okra & rice stew. They use safety knives to chop up the ingredients.
"I chopped celery," said Raul, a 10-year-old club member.
"I was crying," said Sebastian, a 13-year-old. "I was doing onions. I was cutting them... meanwhile, I was crying. That was my first time doing that. I didn't like it."
When the chopping was done, Chef AJ helped the children cook up the stew in a portable skillet. For some of the club members, this is their first experience with cooking, others already know their way around the kitchen.
"My grandma has shown me how to cook just a little bit," Sebastian added.
At the same time, the girls are measuring out the ingredients for okra corn muffins.
"Just have fun doing cooking," said Bryanna about what the class was up to.
The girls work together to read the recipe, measure the ingredients precisely, and mix it all together.
"It's fun to cook, and it also smells good when you cook," said 9-year-old Xochitl.
In addition to cooking, Xochitl loves to read at the club.
"I'm the top reader," she told CBS News Colorado.
As the reader, she gets prizes on Fridays, often they are toys donated during the Together for Colorado Toy Drive.
"It was like on Friday, and there was like a thing. There was like Jack in the coloring. There was a dog one and there was one that was Halloween. Another girl got the Halloween, and then I got the puppy one when they called my name," Xochitl explained in a way that only a 9-year-old could.
Xochitl relies on the teachers and the club like they are a second home.
"Teachers are always kind to me, and they make me laugh," she said. "When they're upset I'll make them laugh and happy."
The toys that are collected during the Together for Colorado Toy drive go a long way to filling a void in these kids' lives.
"My mom is having a baby, and he's a boy, and he's going to get born on February 8th. I don't want to spend the money on her because she's going to buy everything for the baby because she doesn't want to spend more money," Xochitl told CBS News Colorado.
"Some kids like their families go through stuff and like some kids don't have toys. Boys and Girls Club privilege them ... helps those kids who don't have toys to have them," Raul said.
Raul loves going to the club so he can play in the gym and play soccer.
"It's a safe place to be here," he explained.
In cooking class, Xochitl helps Chef AJ pour the muffin batter into a muffin maker. Then the club members make a drink recipe.
"We did the cucumber sparkling water which was my favorite one," Sebastian said.
When everything is done cooking, it's time to eat. A job well done. The children try okra for the first time in a recipe they made themselves.
LINK: Together for Colorado Toy Drive
The Together for Colorado Toy Collection Day is Thursday, December 12, 2024. Michelle Griego, Brian Flores, Karen Leigh, and Michael Spencer will be collecting toys at the King Soopers at Colorado & Yale from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Your Reporter in Aurora, Tori Mason, will be at the Smoky Hill Marketplace King Soopers from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Your Reporter in Douglas County, Olivia Young, will be at the store on S. University Blvd. in Highlands Ranch from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Your Reporter in Jefferson County, Andrew Haubner and Karen Morfitt, will be at the King Soopers at Bel Mar from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Your Reporter in Adams County, Gabriela Vidal, will be at the new King Soopers in Thornton from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
