Cooking up help for charity could be recipe for success

Michael Russo enjoys cooking for kids -- and that doesn't mean making peanut-butter sandwiches.

"Cooking for Kids" is a new fundraising effort he began to benefit children's charities in the Albany Diocese and beyond.

He persuades area chefs to demonstrate their skills at fundraising dinners he organizes. Ticket-buyers enjoy several courses of food from their favorite restaurants, and also learn about the charity to which all proceeds from the dinner will go.

Ingredients

The idea came about several months ago when Mr. Russo heard that the Double "H" Hole in the Woods Ranch in Lake Luzerne, which serves children who are critically ill or disabled, needed a new "mono-ski" to enable children with disabilities to try skiing.

The mono-ski costs about $3,500, an amount Mr. Russo thought he could raise through a dinner. "I'm a firm believer in the power of food," he told The Evangelist.

He was motivated by the children who would enjoy skiing for the first time, particularly children who were paralyzed. "Imagine a kid who's paralyzed, how invigorating it is [for him] to be sliding down a mountain!" he enthused. "What a cool thing to give a kid with paralysis."

Recipe for success

As he planned the event, Mr. Russo realized that "Cooking for Kids" could become more than a one-time effort. If he made it an impressive event that attracted a crowd, he could organize dinners for other charities and even make "Cooking for Kids" a nationally recognized name.

The parishioner of St. Clement's Church in Saratoga Springs ended up paying thousands of dollars out of his own pocket to ensure the event was what he termed "the Emeril [TV cooking] Show times two."

Using donated materials, he built a backdrop and professional cooking set with everything from cabinets to working appliances. He hired Media 1 Communications, an Albany-based production company, to make a video about the Double "H" ranch to show at the dinner as well as doing the lighting, camera work and sound for the chefs' demonstrations.

Stirring it up

Mr. Russo fit in all of this around his work as an international union representative for the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers Union. He spends much of his time traveling around the U.S. to negotiate labor agreements and lobby for union interests.

But Cooking for Kids became "a passion, not work," he said. "It was a good thing to invest in." Besides, Mr. Russo is a bit of a chef himself; in the past, he'd worked a range of restaurant jobs from waiting tables to cooking.

The initial Cooking for Kids dinner was held in August at the Elks Club in Wilton. A roomful of diner/donors ensured that the Double "H" ranch would get its mono-ski -- and Mr. Russo was assured that Cooking for Kids would continue to exist.

"There's people out there that need, and I'm in a position to help -- and it's something I like to do," he stated, though he admitted that "sometimes I think I am insane" for putting so much time, work and financial commitment into the project.

Coming together

Cooking for Kids has three more events planned and others in the works:

* a benefit for United Way of Northeastern New York to help its agencies that work with children;

* another for CAPTAIN Youth and Family Services of Saratoga County; and

* a "cook-in" at the Skidmore College radio station (WSPN 91.1-FM) in Saratoga Springs, where Mr. Russo himself will demonstrate "dorm-room cooking" using a George Foreman grill, a microwave and a Hot Pot. Donations at that event will benefit a mentoring program sponsored by Catholic Charities of Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties.

Finished product

Volunteers for many charities claim they get more out of their work than they give; Mr. Russo said his reward is simply "a smile from ear to ear." Thinking of the children he's helping, he added, "brings tears to my eyes."

In the future, Cooking for Kids will be going on the road: Mr. Russo is planning events in New Orleans and Wilkes-Barre, Penn. At the latter dinner, he hopes to have country-music stars and NASCAR drivers as special guests.

"When I hook up with a charity, I'll go to that locale and get a couple of chefs, local celebrities, musicians," he explained. "You need to build an event that's fun and high-energy for the area."

(Learn more about Cooking for Kids and its upcoming events at www.cookingforkids.com.)

(12/4/03) [[In-content Ad]]