Restaurant Revisited: Horton’s Kids by Sara Levine in Shows, June 13th, 2012
In a special episode of Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine faced his toughest challenge yet when First Lady Michelle Obama assigned him the task of rebuilding Horton’s Kids, a children’s community center that provides many services such as serving after-school meals in one of Washington, D.C.’s neediest neighborhoods. Mrs. Obama gave Robert three missions: Give Horton’s Kids a dining room, update their kitchen and create a community garden for them.
A few months after Robert’s Restaurant: Impossible-style transformation of Horton’s Kids, we checked in with Executive Director Brenda Chamberlain to see how the organization is doing. “Everyone loves and is impressed with the new, transformed Horton’s Kids!” says Brenda. “The vibrant space establishes a sense of community for the children.”
The brand-new kitchen and dining area have enabled Horton’s Kids to run cooking classes and hands-on nutrition programs more effectively. “During a recent class, we had kids sautéing vegetables, making omelets on the stovetop and blending fruit smoothies — all simultaneously,” says Brenda.
The dining/all-purpose room allows kids to sit down and share their meals together. Thanks to the collapsible tables and hang-able chairs, staff and volunteers have flexibility to arrange the space to meet the needs of various programs outside of meal times. The children love having a nice indoor space where they can hang out, chat with their friends and do homework. The computer lab that Microsoft donated has helped to bridge the technical divide often found in the Horton’s Kids community.
In the garden, early summer vegetables are growing nicely. Horton’s Kids has started a children’s gardening club: “Kids are taking great pride in the garden,” says Brenda. The irrigation bike has proven to be a fun, creative way to engage the children in gardening, and they’re enjoying it “tremendously.”
After hearing the First Lady talk about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, the children are getting more adventurous and trying new kinds of produce. “They also enjoy knowing that they are growing vegetables and herbs they can eat,” Brenda says. In an upcoming class, the kids will be using the fresh basil to make pesto.
The future looks bright for Horton’s Kids: “With the help of our amazing volunteers and donors, the new space will soon allow us to serve many more children.”
To find out how you can make a difference in the lives of these children, visit www.hortonskids.org.
For a closer look at the transformation of Horton’s Kids, check out our photo gallery of Robert’s mission from the White House.
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More posts from Sara Levine.
What I find truly sad is the fact that people who bring up good points about the motivation of MO are looked down upon. To answer the question from the poster who asked if Nancy Reagan was politically motivated when she did her just say no spot on Different Strokes, YES SHE WAS INDEED. Her husband, one of the greatest presidents ever, and the last truly good president we had in my life time, had started the federally funded "War on Drugs" so OF COURSE what she was doing was politically motivated. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that. Michelle Obama, was motivated as well, some what politically, but also financially. Was it helpful that "Horton's Kids" got the publicity, it sure was. But let's not try and make MO out to be some kind of saint for doing this.
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Who ran up the other 2/3?
Celeste, do you live on Mars?
Your entire post was a bunch of bull so rather then go through the long process of showing why it's a load of garbage I'll sum it up in one sentence. You're an idiot and a typical totally blind, deluded republican zombie.
Why don't you get a history lesson, We have been a welfare state since the great depression. Countries aren't supposed to be run at a profit. We as a country need to abolish politics.
So Celeste, what you are saying is that you never claimed your children on your taxes? If you did, that would be taking a credit. Also you believe that poor people should not have access to a telephone? This is the 21st century and more people opt to have cellphones vs landlines.You can get a non contract phone for approximately $25/month. My house phone cost more than that. Sorry you found the show so offensively political, next time don’t tune in when you will see people doing for others since it only makes you angry!
You, Celeste, are a sad little woman. Look in the mirror and ask yourself how many people you could have helped during the time it took you to write that diatribe. When we are all long gone, people will still be remembering the differences that Horton's Kids made, and no one will remember you and the lack of change or impact that you had in this world. Enjoy your non-existent existence. The anger that divides you from the rest of the country is the problem, NOT the solution.
You are right on. I love that all these government dependents opposing you only have small minded and insulting replies. Seems they would have time to find more words while sitting at home waiting for the next assistance source to arrive. I do agree with your message but I do wish that people like you would try to get your message across without bringing religion into it in any fashion including saying "Praise the Lord". I only saying this because I am really tired of people ignoring the entire message contents based on the insinuation that one mention of the Lord would make the you extreme right wing.
As far as the replies your comment received…
Nevada foodie fails to understand that bringing MO into the program instantly made this political.
Steve Doesn't get it that the other 2/3 was a 200+ year accumulation.
Joe has absolutely nothing valuable to say.
David also has nothing of value to say and has proven to the world that his job is to vote for the options that will ensure that he can continue to live for free.
Aaron doesn't appear to understand that the welfare state has been abused and exploited and that Government actually does have a place but that place is not to create a government dependency for life's necessities such as food and shelter. Don't be lazy, provide for yourself and your family. Also, as true as it may be that countries aren't supposed to run at a profit, it is also very true that countries are supposed to run efficiently and without waste or debt. Creating government jobs in a financially crippled government is irresponsible and causing more debt all in the attempt to create the illusion of lower unemployment.
Truth…. oh Truth. You ignored all information to make lame and unrelated comments and insults. Very mature.
Christy W, When you claim your children when paying taxes it is to make adjustments to pay the proper amount or your fair share. If you are like some of us that work you would know that when you work you pay tax and the tax you pay is an estimate of what you owe. So when you adjust your taxes in April it is to determine if you have overpaid or if you owe more. For the people with jobs that have children that claim their children it is done for fairness. Claiming children does not exclude you from paying tax and if you get a refund in April it is because you overpaid. Thats what the word refund means in this situation. I have no children that are considered dependents yet I still get a refund in April but it is not because I get free money from the Government, it is because I paid more than my fair share of tax. The refund in my case is giving me a little of my own money back for my overpayment. I hope I redundantly explained this to you Christy W. I will also help you with your math on the phone issue. Basic home phone service as listed on the AT&T site is less than $20 per month and after taxes it is reasonable to guess the monthly bill would be $25 or less. Now lets assume you have a child with the non-contract phone you mentioned for $25 and assume that the mother and father of the child also have the same phone with same plan. By mathematically combining these figures it would show $75 per month. So mathematically we can see that $75 > $25. In the real world we use mathematics to determine budgets. Seems you are using mathemagics and fairy dust…. maybe some unicorn milk? Ohhh I get it, thats the Hope and Change…. you change the figures and hope that nobody checks your math!
Wow! Just reading some of these comments on here, is making me so angry and frustrated. how in the world can you-the people who do-think that this episode had any damn thing to do with politics or promoting the show's or the chef's rating or even promoting the Obama's campaign for the re-elections. Get your life and your damn thinking together, because you guys posting such comments on here and displaying such stupidity and ignorance, just tells me one thing about you, you are just frustrated with your own life or that you just don't have a life period. This episode, leave alone the episode, this show is about helping other people succeed, get a grip on their life and get back up again.
You know what, go kill yourself after posting such a comment, better yet kill yourself before you start taping the keyboard, it will save you all a great deal of trouble and save me the trouble of reading such horrendous silly bickering, which just goes to prove that all you people are just immature, i bet the kids at this place or kids all over, are more mature then the people who are posting negative comments on here, if you want to talk about politics, go comments on CNN or FOX, where it would be of some relevance, please just leave this blog alone with that silly charade of yours.
Anyways, kudos to everyone who helped these kids, thank you RI, FN, and the First Lady for making a difference, no matter how small it might be.
Sincerely:
Ray, Hiren