Top 10 Reasons to Attend Cooking up Change

November 01, 2016 | Written By: Healthy Schools Campaign

On Nov. 17, the Bridgeport Art Center’s Skyline Loft will be abuzz with the energy from 100 student competitors. The students are hard at work perfecting their recipes, and we’re hard at work making sure this year’s 10th anniversary event is better than ever! Here are the top 10 reasons you should attend Cooking up Change:

1. Meet and talk with incredible student chefs  

At the event you can chat with these incredible student chefs about their meals, their recipe planning process and their experiences with school food. You can then feel the excitement in the room and cheer along with the crowd as the winner is announced.

2. Taste amazing food

The food that these students make is seriously good eats. Did you ever eat Haitian-spiced chicken or chile relleno in your school cafeteria? Don’t you wish you had? Not only are these dishes inventive, they also adhere to strict nutrition and budgetary guidelines that ensure schools across the country can replicate them. Come taste the future of school food!

3. Enter the grand raffle

Dream up your ideal California vacation and choose one of three fantastic locations: San Francisco, Los Angeles or Napa Valley. Roundtrip airfare and four-day, three-night accommodations for four included. Raffle tickets are $50 each or three for $100. Get tickets!

4. Win great items in our silent auction

Don’t want to leave the prize-winning to luck? We have dozens of great packages in our silent auction, where you can bid directly from your smartphone. You can win a Revolution Brewery tour package, Blackhawks ticket package or a Chicago Athletic Club Association hotel package.

5.  Get lucky in our bite-sized raffle

Don’t want to keep your eye on an auction item all evening? We’ll also have a bite-sized raffle where winning is as easy as buying a ticket and waiting to collect your winnings.

6. Raise a glass to celebrate

Join us as we raise a glass to celebrate 10 years of Cooking up Change with a special Champagne toast and an extra hour of partying! We’ll also have a DJ to set the mood, so get ready to party!

7. Strike a pose at the photo booth

Pose with your nearest and dearest—and some fantastic props—and post your favorite shots on social media.

8. Celebrate the past 10 years

So much has changed in 10 years of Cooking up Change. We’re so excited to see what this year’s amazing student chefs have come up with and look back on 10 years of talented students chefs and mold-breaking meals. Tell the world what Cooking up Change and healthy school food mean to you by writing on our interactive wall.

9. Join a strong group of Cooking up Change supporters

This year, we’re thrilled to have U.S. Senator Dick Durbin as our Honorary Chair and Triste and Ian Smith as our Co-Chairs. By attending Cooking up Change, you’re joining a group of powerful allies advocating for healthy school food in Chicago and across the country!

10. Support the great work HSC is doing

We have developed a comprehensive approach that is creating healthy changes for students in Chicago and across the country. We partner with principals, teachers, school nurses, parents, students and community leaders to make healthy, sustainable changes at the school level and build on that experience to advocate for healthier school policies and practices at the district level and beyond. By coming to Cooking up Change, you’re supporting this great work.