Discovering the Joy of the Green Tables Garden

At the McCormick Boys and Girls Club

The children at the McCormick Boys & Girls Club treated members of Les Dames d’Escoffier to a guided tour of their organic garden, the science program and other areas of the club that nurtures the time and talent of kids in Chicago’s uptown neighborhood after school.

Former Green Tables Chair, Donna Pierce conducted a cooking class for some of the children, and our members enjoyed watching how engaged the children were in preparing a salad made with fresh vegetables and quinoa and fried green tomatoes with biscuits. Over the past two years the kids at the club have gotten to know Donna and now look forward to her regular classes on food and nutrition. Mary Abbott Hess told members more about the creation of the garden, the cooking demonstrations, field trips and the growth of this program over just a few short years. Jean True, the new Green Tables committee chair, is getting to know the program and the children.

This event was the perfect time for our members to get a glimpse of the magnitude of the educational program and the real difference it is making every day for the children and their families in this community. And a number of our members were anxious to sign up to be a part of future programs at the club. In addition to strong attendance from our members, special guest chef, Breanna Beike, Executive Sous Chef at David Burke’s Primehouse in the James Hotel treated both the children at the club and members of Les Dames d’Escoffier to special appetizers made with fresh seasonal ingredients that were enjoyed in the garden with grape juice. It was an inspirational shared celebration of the harvest from the Green Tables garden.