Food serves as a medium for connection, creativity, and leadership. At City High, the Culinary Club embodies these principles. As one of its presidents, Filon Kalembire has turned the club into a group that fosters a sense of community, creativity, and belonging. Under her leadership, the Club has expanded its reach and earned more than before.
It was freshman year when Filon was searching for a club to join. The Culinary Club’s booth was warm and inviting, quickly drawing her in. After her first meeting in Culinary, she quickly became immersed in the club’s activities.
“I wanted to explore clubs my freshman year and joined Culinary because the atmosphere around it was welcoming,” Filon said.
She attended every meeting but felt like there wasn’t enough being done. They often ran out of ingredients for the club members and were limited on what recipes they could make.
“We weren’t meeting as often as we would’ve liked because our coffers were low,” she explains. “We didn’t hold any fundraisers during my freshman year, so we met once a month or so,” Filon says.
In her sophomore year, she chose to run as one of the four presidents of Culinary. Once she and her friends began to run the club, they held Culinary’s first fundraiser in a long time. When they organize fundraisers for Culinary, they take into account what foods people tend to buy for a reasonable price. Price is determined by the number of ingredients, the complexity of the food item being sold, and how long it’ll take to make the item.
For their first fundraiser, they made and sold homemade cake pops, which generated $400+ in profits. This allowed them to organize more Culinary meetings and afford more ingredients for more complex meals. On the first meeting after the fundraiser, they made chicken alfredo.
“My favorite dish that we made was chicken alfredo because there are so many ways to tweak it,” Filon said.
That day, many students 9-12 came to make chicken alfredo. So much so that they had to start putting a limit on how many people could attend the club.
Though Filon is happy with how the Culinary Club has turned out, she emphasizes that she’d like to work with other clubs and organizations within the Iowa City community. Currently, the Culinary Club plans on possibly working with The Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County (NCJC). NCJC is a non-profit social group with three centers in Iowa City. “I believe that working with other clubs and organizations would help Culinary be more active in the community.”
Despite the demands of a president, Filon’s leadership is grounded in a sense of humility and collaboration.
“Something Ms. Wehr taught me about teamwork is that it’s all about dividing and conquering,” she shares. “Without the other three presidents, not much could get done. We’re all in charge of something different so we can swiftly and efficiently complete tasks.”
As Filon and the other three presidents continue to build the club into a community, they hope to be able to welcome more members as the club expands. “Culinary Club is a club where students come together not just to cook, but to make new friends, gain experience in the kitchen, and make a positive impact,” Filon Kalembire said.
