The Catskill Chronicle

LIBERTY, NY -  Every once in awhile, you get the opportunity to participate in something so astronomically awesome that you think that the organizers must have invited you by accident. This was the case for Dannielle Gray, Roscoe Central School; Zachary Cordero, Tri-Valley Central School; Stephen Rogers, and Sara Molusky, both from Livingston Manor School. All four of these culinary students were invited to participate in the renowned annual Citymeals-on-Wheels. The event took place on June 14, 2010 at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Not only were they selected to participate – they were selected to assist some of the star chefs preparing the food for the gala fundraiser. The event took place with the intent of raising money for the preparation and delivery of meals to the elderly in the five boroughs of New York City. This year the theme was Silver Spoons, in celebration the gala’s 25^th anniversary.

This was a big honor for the students and BOCES, only twelve culinary arts students from New York State were selected to participate in this once in a lifetime event. Of the twelve, four student were from the Career and Tech Program at Sullivan County BOCES. The students had to be prepared to jump in wherever needed to work hard when called on and be prepared to be an observer at times, as well as a worker even if it was to help mop up a spill. Under the direction of their culinary arts teacher, Kathleen Poppo, the students were up for the challenge.

More than 40 of the restaurant industry’s most acclaimed chefs participated in the event preparing a series of dishes for the more than 1,000 attendees to sample. The gala raised $700,000, which will go toward the preparation and delivery of nutritious meals.

A few of the chefs who participated in this year’s event included Jody Adams of Rialto in Cambridge, Mass.; Daniel Boulud of restaurant Daniel in New York; Larry Forgione of An American Place in St. Louis; Ed Brown of Ed’s Chowder House in New York; Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill in New York; Wolfgang Puck of Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group in Los Angeles; and Bradley Ogden of Bradley Ogden at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Stephen Rogers had the opportunity of working with Daniel Boulud & Jean Francois Bruel which will create great discussion when he goes to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) this fall and a perfect addition to his resume. Sara Molusky is also planning on attending CIA in the fall. Dannielle Gray has plans to continue her culinary education at Paul Smith’s College. Both Sara and Dannielle had the pleasure of working with Massimo Bottura of Modena Italy. Zachary Cordero had the opportunity of working with Alfred Portale and will be attending SUNY Sullivan. All of the colleges are known for their culinary programs.

For more information on the Culinary Program or any of the other Career & Tech Programs at Sullivan BOCES please contact the BOCES Career & Tech Dept at (845) 295-4152.

Citymeals-on-Wheels is an organization that most New Yorkers know is an important staple of the community. It is a not-for-profit organization and public-private partnership with the New York City Department for the Aging that raises private funds to prepare and deliver weekend, holiday and emergency meals to the homebound elderly throughout the boroughs of New York City. Last year, Citymeals underwrote the preparation and delivery of 2.1 million meals to 17,000 aged New Yorkers.

Captions for above photos – Photo #1 (top left) -  Dannielle Gray and Sara Molusky work to gather supplies. Photo #2 (right) – Jean Francois Bruel and Stephen Rogers take a minute to relax.