Let's learn more about CKC!
Cultured Kids Cuisine Inc. began as a passion project run by a high school student, Mia Kotikovski, in June of 2019. As an impassioned pre-medical student, Mia volunteered at various hospitals across New York City wherein she noticed an alarming lack of spirit and attention by medical personnel towards children in long-term care. During these vital years of their lives, when intellectual and emotional stimulation is crucial for wellness, the children were left in solitude. Combining her passions for medicine, cooking, and education, Mia organized a service that loosely partnered with pediatric clinics and pediatric sectors of hospitals across NYC to bring culinary programming to children in long-term care with the intent of broadening their understanding of history and culture, and most importantly it's application to today's world, and improving motor-skills as well as mental wellbeing in using food as a vessel for education.
During the pandemic, with resources such as social media and reliable video platforms, the programming was restarted better than ever before, and during a time when cultural literacy was of paramount importance. Cooking workshops were moved to an online setting, where Cultured Kids Cuisine's trained team of Culinarians (student volunteers) led classes cooking dishes from around the world, educating children (aged 7-14) and families on culture, history, language, and more. In making all services free of charge and held via Zoom, attendees hailed from all parts of the globe and all walks of life.
Moreover, in promoting more equality in the male-dominated industry of business and entrepreneurship, the team at Cultured Kids Cuisine was made up of over 150 female and non-binary students from across the globe with the intention of instilling confidence, mentorship, and resources for them to succeed in their future entrepreneurial endeavors. Today, we are proud to say that we have had over 550 female and non-binary student volunteers running this organization and continue our cooking services, alongside other free programming.
