Kids serve the community by preparing and serving freshly-made pasta dinners and donating profits to local causes!
The Kids' Pasta Project began as an idea for empowering youth through fundraising dinners and quickly grew to address a broader opportunity for philanthropy education and social entrepreneurship. Many community members have supported the project through volunteering, offering in-kind donations, attending dinners and partnering with KPP. It has proven to be a way for kids as well as other community members to serve and learn more about our community.
The Kids' Pasta Project began as an idea for empowering youth through fundraising dinners and quickly grew to address a broader opportunity for philanthropy education and social entrepreneurship. Many community members have supported the project through volunteering, offering in-kind donations, attending dinners and partnering with KPP. It has proven to be a way for kids as well as other community members to serve and learn more about our community.
Mission and Vision
The mission of the Kids' Pasta Project is for youth to serve their local community by preparing and selling freshly-made, healthy meals, with the profit going to local causes.
Where possible, the ingredients for the meals are from local producers and businesses.
The Kids' Pasta Project provides the opportunity to learn the value of service to community as well as relevant life skills.
A key intention of the Kids' Pasta Project organization is for it to be sustainable, adaptable and transferable to any community.
Where possible, the ingredients for the meals are from local producers and businesses.
The Kids' Pasta Project provides the opportunity to learn the value of service to community as well as relevant life skills.
A key intention of the Kids' Pasta Project organization is for it to be sustainable, adaptable and transferable to any community.
Vision
Inspiring community, one meal at a time!
The Kids' Pasta Project is about serving the community!
Each week a group of kids and adults prepare and serve a dinner and donate money raised to a local cause. All local groups and organizations are eligible to apply for funding.
It's about local support
The wider community is engaged as sponsors, educators, parents and the diners themselves interact with kids involved in the project. Local produce is used as much as possible. Many sponsors donate or give discounted prices for food and/or provide other services.
It's about education
As kids serve, they learn about the groups they are serving and also develop practical job and life skills. Though working at the dinners and being involved in behind the scenes work, kids develop “21st century skills” including teamwork, creative thinking, problem-solving and more.
Supporting and partnering with other organizations generates discussion amongst the kids about the community, increasing not only their own community awareness but also helping to generate it in others.
It's about being sustainable
Sustainability is a central goal of the Kids’ Pasta Project. One aspect of that concept is that the kids’ capacity to run this project is cultivated both in the restaurant operations and in the business operations, including publicity, bookkeeping, recipe development and more. The Youth Advisory Board (YAB) was formed in 2010 with twelve members, ranging in age from ten to fourteen. Look for a YAB page on this website soon!
Kids serve the community almost every week by preparing and serving a freshly-made pasta dinner and donating the profits to local causes.
A Little History
The Kids' Pasta Project has been serving pasta dinners in the North Fork Valley most Mondays since March 2009.
We are a part of the North Fork Community, which includes the towns of Paonia, Hotchkiss and Crawford in Delta County, Colorado. The North Fork is known for its small farms and vineyards and pioneering spirit.
The idea of the Kids’ Pasta Project was seeded as kids churned out home made pasta in the kitchen and played restaurant. Thinking about sustainable ways to raise money led to involving kids in fundraising and and making it a positive educational experience.
Local chef extraordinaire, Eleni, generously offered her restaurant on Mondays during the school year to create this project, and the link between kids, pasta and sustainable fundraising quickly sprouted.
The original idea of the KPP had to do with raising money for our schools, but as kids got involved in the spirit of service, it became clear that this would not be a project exclusive to one school or one cause. The “school” is all the kids who want to participate and the cause is community.
Since Eleni's restaurant was open on Mondays in the summer months, we moved to beautiful Scenic Mesa Ranch to serve our dinners, thanks to the generosity of its owners. KPP also enjoyed serving a dinners at Fresh and Wyld Farmhouse Inn in June of 2009.
Kids and adults together volunteered over 12,600 hours between March of 2009 and November of 2010.
Each week a group of kids and adults prepare and serve a dinner and donate money raised to a local cause. All local groups and organizations are eligible to apply for funding.
It's about local support
The wider community is engaged as sponsors, educators, parents and the diners themselves interact with kids involved in the project. Local produce is used as much as possible. Many sponsors donate or give discounted prices for food and/or provide other services.
It's about education
As kids serve, they learn about the groups they are serving and also develop practical job and life skills. Though working at the dinners and being involved in behind the scenes work, kids develop “21st century skills” including teamwork, creative thinking, problem-solving and more.
Supporting and partnering with other organizations generates discussion amongst the kids about the community, increasing not only their own community awareness but also helping to generate it in others.
It's about being sustainable
Sustainability is a central goal of the Kids’ Pasta Project. One aspect of that concept is that the kids’ capacity to run this project is cultivated both in the restaurant operations and in the business operations, including publicity, bookkeeping, recipe development and more. The Youth Advisory Board (YAB) was formed in 2010 with twelve members, ranging in age from ten to fourteen. Look for a YAB page on this website soon!
Kids serve the community almost every week by preparing and serving a freshly-made pasta dinner and donating the profits to local causes.
A Little History
The Kids' Pasta Project has been serving pasta dinners in the North Fork Valley most Mondays since March 2009.
We are a part of the North Fork Community, which includes the towns of Paonia, Hotchkiss and Crawford in Delta County, Colorado. The North Fork is known for its small farms and vineyards and pioneering spirit.
The idea of the Kids’ Pasta Project was seeded as kids churned out home made pasta in the kitchen and played restaurant. Thinking about sustainable ways to raise money led to involving kids in fundraising and and making it a positive educational experience.
Local chef extraordinaire, Eleni, generously offered her restaurant on Mondays during the school year to create this project, and the link between kids, pasta and sustainable fundraising quickly sprouted.
The original idea of the KPP had to do with raising money for our schools, but as kids got involved in the spirit of service, it became clear that this would not be a project exclusive to one school or one cause. The “school” is all the kids who want to participate and the cause is community.
Since Eleni's restaurant was open on Mondays in the summer months, we moved to beautiful Scenic Mesa Ranch to serve our dinners, thanks to the generosity of its owners. KPP also enjoyed serving a dinners at Fresh and Wyld Farmhouse Inn in June of 2009.
Kids and adults together volunteered over 12,600 hours between March of 2009 and November of 2010.
