VOTE FOR HBHA STUDENT IN UNCLE BEN’S BEGINNERS™ CONTEST — Annie Fingersh, an eighth-grader at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, loves applying her creativity in the kitchen. She’s been baking and cooking since she was a young girl. Her hobby took an exciting turn when she was named a finalist in the Uncle Ben’s Beginners™ Contest. Big prizes are on the line, as five grand prize winners will claim $15,000 cash and a $30,000 cafeteria makeover for their school.
The contest is sponsored by Uncle Ben’s to inspire healthy lifelong eating habits by getting children interested in cooking. This is the seventh year of the contest for kids in kindergarten through eighth grade.
For Annie, inspiration and cooking for the contest came naturally.
“Everyone in my family loves to cook and eat, so food and meals are a big part of our time together.”
Annie’s entry was a Spanish rice with peppers and breadcrumb-encrusted cod. She added broccoli and Thai sticky rice for dessert.
“I came up with the menu and found the recipes online. My dad helped me a little with the cod, which the contest actually encouraged,” said Annie, the daughter of Paul Fingersh and Brenda Althouse.
“I’ve watched a lot of cooking shows, so I took extra time with presentation and plating the food.”
Twenty-five finalists were selected from the initial entries, at which point a public voting phase began online. From now to Nov. 11, the public casts votes for their favorite entry at beginners.unclebens.com. Individuals can vote once per photo/entry, per 24 hours. Photos of Annie with her mom and dad appear on the gallery page. Her entry is “Spanish Rice with Breadcrumb Encrusted Cod.”
“The public vote counts for 20 percent in the final judging, so vote as often as possible,” Annie’s mom said. “I set an alarm on my phone to remind me each morning.”
Althouse is spreading the word on social media, too, and appreciates anyone willing to share her Facebook post with their friends or networks.
The final winners will be judged on creativity, presentation, appetite appeal, reflection of Ben’s Beginners goal of bringing families together to cook, and the votes received during the public voting phase. Winners will be announced Dec. 14.
On the prospect of winning, Annie said, “It would be really cool to win $30,000 for HBHA. Our cafeteria is actually a community café run entirely by parents and volunteers. It could really use a makeover!”
Read more about the Uncle Ben’s Beginner’s Contest at https://beginners.unclebens.com
70 OVER 70 HONOREES — Several Jewish Kansas Citians are among the inaugural honorees in the 70 Over 70 Awards, a celebration recognizing 70 individuals from a variety of backgrounds who inspire others and improve our community. They were chosen from more than 150 nominations and will be recognized at a benefit luncheon for the Shepherd’s Center on Oct. 30. For more information, visit sccentral.org/70over70/. Mazel tov to the following list of nominees (if you know anyone we may have missed, let us know): Erwin Abrams, Donna Gould-Cohen, SuEllen Fried, Barb Friedmann, Barbara Sloman Holzmark, Carol Mayer Meyers, Carol Sader, Debbie Shearer, Judy Sherry, Ann Stern, Phyllis Stevens and Mickey and Bonnie Swade.
KIDNEY SISTERS UPDATE — Since December 2017 when The Chronicle reported Debra Porter Gill was searching for a living kidney donor, we have been following her progress. In August we reported Martha Gershun was a tissue type match for Gill, and Gershun would be donating one of her healthy kidneys to Gill. A medical issue caused the original transplant surgery to be delayed.
The surgery did take place in late September, was successful and both women are recovering nicely. You may have already seen Gershun out and about in the community and Gill was doing so well her team at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, sent her back to her home in Florida a week early. Best wishes for a refuah shlema (full recovery) to both
women.