Chris Harmon, Director of Community Service, set out to help kids and teens withProject 16 learn how to make a meal for themselves with our DFW NACE 2020 Community Service Project, “Cooking with Kids”.
This all wouldn’t have been possible without the many donations from our DFW NACE members that allowed us to buy groceries for the kids ensuring that they each had the ingredients to make the Italian Chicken Bake Pasta recipe. After a trip to the market, DFW NACE members gathered safely (with masks) at Truluck’s to pack each grocery bag for the kids and then delivered them to their homes all over the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex.
Later that week, the cooking demonstration was streamed and there were many proud kids and happy bellies after they prepared their own dinners!
In 2019 for our Community Service project, DFW NACE provided over 30 students from Project 16 education on how to be successful after High School! We spent the day teaching them the value of networking, dinner etiquette, interview tips, dressing for success and more at Truluck’s in Dallas. After the luncheon event, the students joined our chapter at The Joule for our NACE monthly meeting which allowed them to network with our members and other DFW event industry professionals.
Project 16 is a non-profit organization based in Dallas, Texas, and founded by Jade “Lady Jade” Burrowes. On their website, they state: “Our mission is to equip and inspire youth ages 10-16 to realize the broad spectrum of educational paths and career options available to them beyond what they may see in their immediate surroundings. Through our programs and community partnerships, we seek to offer up-close access, eye-opening experiences, and educational tools to help children and teens aspire higher than their circumstances, and to dream big.”
This community service project allowed our NACE members to be involved in several ways. For our evening monthly meeting, NACE members had the opportunity to sponsor the meeting fee so that each of the students could attend. And also to serve as their mentor and host during the evening by introducing them to other members and professionals, and also making sure they enjoyed their time and understood each part of the program. At the luncheon, our NACE members helped by hosting panel discussions, as well as breakout stations for the students to be able to have interactive education and discussion on various topics that would help them to be better professionals in their future.
After the full day and evening of programs, the Project 16 teens left motivated and excited with all of the new knowledge they learned. Some of the students even received internships from our NACE Members! It was definitely a huge success and extremely beneficial for the teens to learn about things that they don’t have the opportunity to learn about in their school curriculum.
Our 2020 DFW NACE Community Service project is in the works and we can’t wait to share more info about it with all of you soon!
Chris Harmon CEO & Videographer of Harmland Visions and High School Hype DFW NACE Director of Community Service
