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Richmond school club cooks, serves food-insecure students weekly

McMath Care Club cooks and serves breakfast to students every Thursday morning.

Making sure food-insecure students are fed and feel welcomed is the goal of a McMath secondary student club.

Thirty-five students of the McMath Care Club have been cooking and serving breakfast every Thursday morning to make their classmates feel connected.

Madison Wong, co-chair of the club, said the club allows students to help those of the same age and within their community.

"By us taking a bit of time out of our day and putting effort into something that gives back to the community, it is meaningful that we can help them out," she said.

Every week, students in the club receive an email on what the club will be making and are asked to sign-up to cook breakfast that week.

The club, under the guidance of McMath's home economics teacher Akiko Kato, makes breakfast on Thursday mornings during their personal learning time before their classes start at 9:30 a.m.

Students often use leftover ingredients from McMath's fruit and veggie program for the breakfast.

Wong described the atmosphere in the kitchen as "warm and comfortable" when everyone gathers together to cook.

"There are always former and current food students so they pretty much know what they're doing," she said.

"When the food-insecure students come in to eat, they are always welcomed by everyone. We don't really see a divide between who are the people we are providing the breakfast for and the people making them."

On occasion, Wong added, some students ask if they could join in on the cooking aspect of the breakfast.

"It would be good to see more students come in and help and learn a new skill as well," said Wong.

"We're all here and eating together. We're all McMath students so I think it's a good experience overall for everyone."