Cookin’ up Yum at Matt Kelly ES

This month our chefs and community partners at ARIA Resort & Casino had the pleasure of making new friends at Matt Kelly ES. This Las Vegas school is a new addition to the Chefs for Kids program family. We are very excited to have them on board.

Also new to the scene is ARIA Resort & Casino, who definitely went all out for this amazing breakfast. The menu consisted of veggie frittatas with cheese, hash brown patties, chicken apple sausage, and blueberry pancakes. Students also received chef hats and a surprise bonus-to-go backs containing grape and cheddar cheese cups with crackers, fruit and vegetable pouches and a specialty toy.

It was so thoughtful of the chefs to include to-go meals. This Title I school is on 100% free and reduced lunch, which means for many kids – their meals at school may be their only meals of the day. Having some extra food to take home ensures their bellies are full a little longer. Of course, the kids also enjoyed receiving a cool toy from a little Hot Wheels car or light-up flower bracelet. The toys were definitely a hit and an unexpected nice touch.

The kids were definitely impressed with the food as there were lots of “Yums” and “Thank You’s” coming from their mouths as they enjoyed this delicious meal. Some kids had never tried fruit in their pancakes before. While not everyone enjoyed the bitter taste of blueberries in their pancakes, many did and found a new favorite way to add a healthy fruit into their breakfast. Whether you like it or not, our program is all about exposing students to new fruits and vegetables and trying them in many different ways to find the ones they do like.

We are eternally grateful to ARIA Resort & Casino and its fellow properties at MGM Resorts International who always find unique ways to make their breakfasts just a little more special for the kids. We’re also thankful for our longtime partners Hospitality Culinaire Inc. for providing free Jamba Juice smoothies and Anderson Dairy for donating the milk for our breakfasts.

We’re looking for new partners to add to our program! Toys and to-go bags are not required. Simply donate a warm meal and the time to prepare it, and we can take care of the rest! Open dates for this school year include January 5 at Halle Hewetson ES and March 9 at Vegas Verdes ES. These dates are coming up very soon and we need a Healthy Eating Hero or two to come in and help make them happen!

Will you be the next Healthy Eating Hero for our organization? We hope so. For more information on becoming a culinary sponsor, and the benefits of sponsorship, please visit our donation page.