Chancellor Victor Boschini is giving Chef Boyardee a run for his money.Kids Who Care will host its 10th annual Cookin’ For Kids on Sunday at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center to raise money for scholarships and youth leadership training.
Boschini is one of the featured guests.
“I really believe in Kids Who Care,” Boschini said. “I think they are a wonderful organization.”
Melissa King Foster, TCU alumna and volunteer coordinator, said the Kids Who Care is a nonprofit, Fort Worth-based international theatre organization that was started in 1987 and offers professional musical theatre classes, camps and performances for pre-school to college age.
Cookin’ For Kids is a cook-off between teams of celebrities and chefs from the Fort Worth area, and each celebrity will be paired with a chef to make two dishes, Foster said. One dish will be judged, and the other will be auctioned to the highest bidder.
Kelly Shafer, Kids Who Care’s public relations director, said Cookin’ For Kids is the single largest fundraiser for the Kids Who Care program.
Boschini said his cooking skills are not the best.
“I’ll be honest, I’m just going to support Kids Who Care and get a good meal,” Boschini said.
Shafer said between the ticket sales and auctions, they are hoping to exceed $60,000.
She also said food is not the only thing that will be auctioned. Things such as vacation accommodations, airplane tickets and a private piano concert will be up for grabs.
Foster said they are expecting about 300 people, including 25 to 30 volunteers from the university.
Amber Gore, a freshman premajor and Cookin’ For Kids volunteer, said she found out about the event through her sorority, Delta Delta Delta.
She said she enjoys television cooking shows and thought it would be interesting to see an actual cooking competition while doing community service at the same time.
“I have never done anything with a children’s theatre, but I love being around kids, so I am excited,” Gore said.
The Chancellor said he first became involved with Kids Who Care about a year and a half ago when his youngest daughter started participating in the program.
“I think it’s a wonderful outlet for children,” Boschini said.
Foster said she hosted a training session for the volunteers at the Community Arts Center on Feb. 22 to give an overview of what to wear and what each volunteer would be doing. There are different sessions during the day, including setting up, hosting and cleaning up.
In addition to the Chancellor, Jose Feghali, TCU’s artist-in-residence and Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medalist; country singer Sonny Burgess; and Jim Austin, co-founder of the Cowboys of Color Museum, are some of the celebrity guests.
