We are proud to recognize Alicia May as our Vounteer of the Month! Alicua volunteers at MacGregor Elementary and Briscoe Elementary and at our RecipeHouse Summer Camps. We asked Alicia a few questions about her experiences and the things she loves about volunteering with Recipe for Success.
What sparked your interest to volunteer with Recipe for Success?
Alicia: Recipe for Success jumped out at me because it's everything I love. I'm a retired teacher so it gets me back into the classroom. I love to cook, I love to garden, so it just encompassed everything I enjoy. Being new to Houston, it was a nice way to meet people.
What keeps you coming back week after week? You're our summer camp MVP signing up every week. What about what we're doing gets you jazzed?
Alicia: It's just how happy the children are. A lot of kids don't like vegetables. I know parents are sending their kids to the camps so they can learn more about food, and maybe the kids are hesitant to try new foods, but Recipe for Success is doing a great job of getting them to try their vegetables and making it fun. There's the odd child that pouts in the back once in a while, but most of the time they all have smiles on their faces the entire time. They're happy at camp. I'm doing what I love, it's a small classroom setting, and I don't mind doing the dishes, because interacting with the great instructors and the children - it's a positive thing during my day.
There are also no electronic devices. It's good old-fashioned learning, hands on, touching, feeling, smelling! During the school year, they're in the classroom all day -- smelling is not part of learning in the classroom. This brings a whole new dimension to their learning.
What's your favorite memory / story thus far?
Alicia: For all the school classes, you can see the weight off their shoulders in the classroom. It's completely different, no pressure, they're using a completely different part of their brain, and you can just see the, ''ahhh" on all of them. There was even a child who obviously had tactile issues - it was at Briscoe - and some of the food he couldn't touch. You could see his anxiety level rise and he would go sit down. But he still participated and it still flowed even though you could see he was stressing out. He would gently go sit down compose himself, come back and no one would make a big deal about it.
It's Recipe for Success' 10th Birthday: where would you like to see the organization in another 10 years?
Alicia: Ideally, in every school. The children get so much from this. The US has become so international and it just comes together over food. The best diplomacy has been conquered over food. Food brings everyone together. It's great to see all these new tastes for the children and it opens their world. A certain smell will remind them, oh this is India! Or this is Greece! They don't even have to be eating the food, they can just walk past a restaurant and they'll say, "hmm, I know that smell!"
Thank you, Alicia, for your consistent commitment and support!
Interested in volunteering with us? Email us!
