Over 45 students from Lake Washington Girls Middle School participated in a two-day service event in partnership with St. Clouds restaurant and Angeline’s Women’s Center. On the first day of this event, students met at St.Clouds restaurant, located in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood, with bags of food donations and unbridled enthusiasm. John Platt, an Executive Chef and owner at St. Clouds, appraised the food donations and quickly orchestrated a restaurant quality meal based on what our girls and their families provided. John put our girls to work chopping vegetables, at the deep fryer, on the flat top stove, stuffing peppers, washing dishes, and more! Before we knew it, John and the L-Dub girls and parents had cooked up vats of shrimp gumbo, sweet chili chicken, and a variety of salads! The food was packed up and whisked away to Angeline’s, while parents and students stayed behind to return the restaurant to its original state.
The next morning, 36 students and several parents arrived at Angeline’s Women’s Center to decorate their dining room and serve the meal for lunch. Students created a festive dining space, waited on tables, and served up their delicious meal. It was a successful and profound experience all around: the food was declared “fantastic” by the guests, families and students were moved by the project, and John from St. Clouds said, “..a triumph, of course, mostly because those girls are truly so amazing – so much positive, relentless, and joyful energy.” This project is becoming a yearly tradition at LWGMS, and we couldn’t be more grateful to St. Clouds and Angeline’s for working so closely with us to make this happen.
