"OK guys, today we're doing breakfast for dinner!" said second-year AMC student Tania Rodriguez.
The kids filed into the kitchen to wash their hands and dispersed to different areas for each recipe: Four boys washed potatoes at the sink for the breakfast casserole, other kids took turns cracking eggs into a large bowl, and a young boy cooked sausages in a frying pan.
This is the scene at RISSE twice a month at the Cooks for a Cause program, where first- and second-year AMC students gather with middle and high school-aged kids to cook and eat a meal together. Past meal themes were Italian (with baked ziti and garlic bread) and Mexican (chicken fajitas and très leches cake).
"We had a family mentor program before where AMC students helped vulnerable families to do paperwork and medical-related issues, and it was so successful," said Francis Sengabo, operations director for RISSE. "When they came to request it with youth, I said maybe that will be successful because we need that integration for the whole community in general."
Sengabo, who was a Rwandan refugee himself, said the program is a great way to keep the kids stay busy and engaged after school. But the main result he hopes to see from Cooks for a Cause is a more motivated youth inspired to stay in school and pursue higher education.
"Many people from my country like to go to school because they see people that do change the family and life of the community," he said. "I think students from AMC can little by little talk to them and change their mind to do this and that."
The passion is apparent: while most of the kids disperse near the end of the cooking to play games, one boy, Rodriguez said, chooses not to play with his friends and instead continues cooking in the kitchen.
AMC students have many volunteer options they can pursue (the school requires 40 hours of service learning to graduate). Shruthi Perati, a first-year student, said she chose Cooks for a Cause to connect with the community.
"Food is a great platform to connect with people of all backgrounds," she said. "And I think doctors really need to know their patients and community, so this is a great way to do that."
Rodriguez, who is one of the head organizers of this year's program, loves cooking. But her personal interest in RISSE stems from her background: Her father and grandfather were refugees from Cuba.
"They came from having a job and a home to living in a one-bedroom apartment with six other families," she said. "Now I'm able to go to high school, college, and now medical school because of that opportunity they gave me. I see these kids and that kind of track and want to give back."
While many of the kids are still too young to know what they want to do with their lives, many of them are passionate about soccer, so Rodriguez tells them they can join soccer teams in high school and college. Her main goal, though, is to give them something to look forward to outside of school.
The kids were timid and shy during their first gathering with the medical students in October, carefully paying attention to the chopping, mixing and frying instructions. In November, they were quick to line up to confidently cut peppers and onions. And by January, the excitement and comfort level had increased exponentially.
"I can see how interested they are to come," Sengabo said. "Like today, it was raining and some of them didn't have a ride so they walked here in the rain — they are so enthusiastic."
Etha, who is from Thailand, was flipping pancakes for the first time in his life. He instinctually timed the flip for a perfect, golden color.
"Maybe I can be a chef one day," he said.
