LA Eater: Neal Fraser, Eric Greenspan, Walter Manzke, and More Participate in Stu and the Kids Food Event

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The proceeds go directly to the education of at-risk schoolchildren in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Here’s an event worth standing behind. Stuart Skversky, a former Los Angeles-based private chef who cut his teeth at Spago and Patina, moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2009 to volunteer at the local orphanage teaching English, cooking, and baking. In an effort to help the children, orphans from the Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand and Burma, after graduation, Skversky founded Stu and the Kids, a 501c3, tax-exempt nonprofit that provides scholarships for higher education.

On Sunday, August 9 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Vibiana, Neal Fraser (Redbird), Eric Greenspan (Mare), Brooke Williamson and Nick Roberts (Playa Provisions), Akasha Richmond (Sāmbār), Sherry Yard (Helms Bakery), Walter Mankze (Republique), Matt Bencivenga (Wolfgang Puck Catering), Adam del Bardo (Ledlow), and others will come together to cook Thai-inspired dishes. With booze by Three Weavers and Bodega Wine Bar, along with and bites like live action grilled skewers and shrimp and pork green mango salad, it is sure to be a merry way to support a great cause.

Tickets are $95 and include unlimited food and beverage. Purchase here.

Source: http://la.eater.com/2015/7/15/8971887/stu-and-the-kids-fundraiser-stuart-skversky-vibiana-august-9

FUNdraiser – Aug. 9th at Vibiana!

Come celebrate our 501c3 status with Stu and The Kids. We just received this on January 29, 2015 so this fundraiser will be extra special to us. I am so excited for this event, it is going to be awesome! Tons of great food, all Thai-inspired, great drinks, raffles and a silent auction and all for a great cause. Thank you so much for helping out these kids, I look forward to seeing you all there.

Click here purchase your tickets!

Peace and gratitude, -Stu.

STU-Flyer_proof5a

Fundraising Tour (lol) 2015

Well it is kinda like a tour……

So far I have been in LA, Philly, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and now as I type I am in Vermont. I have seen and met some amazing people during this trip, I have been working very hard but having lots of great fun and great conversations.

People are so excited to have the opportunity to help the Kids and I too am excited.

We had an amazing evening at Bodega WIne Bar in Santa Monica, CA in April where about 50 of us watched celebrity chef Eric Greenspan compete on Chopped for $75,000. Sadly he did not win but we saw and heard all about Stu and The Kids on the Food Network, pretty cool if you ask me. Eric and I both cooked some Thai food for our friends and it all went quickly, lol. Eric is going to be on another show soon too and I will keep you all posted.

There was a private dinner in New Jersey for 18 people and that was super fun too. I met Tracey, the host of the dinner last year at the Blueplate fundraiser and we kept in touch. Tracey has been to Chiang Mai before and was excited to eat some of the dishes that she loved while visiting there. She invited a bunch of friends and they all contributed to our cause. They are doing a Yoga retreat in 2016 to India and Thailand so I will see them all again when we go the the Wat Don Chan where they will provide a nice lunch for all 650 kids and will also do a couple of yoga classes.

The Blueplate fundraiser was a HIT. We had 65 people there and we raised the most money since starting the fundraisers there 5 years ago. A huge thanks goes out to Jim and Michelle for helping and always being so kind and generous to me and the charity. They are my family and I love them very much.

Now I am in Vermont, Burlington. I met Debra through a friend on Facebook 5 years ago. Debra and her delicious short bread company, Douglas Sweets has contributed to us before but always asked me to come here so we can have a proper fundraiser and this is the year. Although we are not having a huge event we are having fun and getting the word out. Tomorrow evening we are doing a private dinner and then on Sunday I will be teaching a cooking class for 15 people and then another 15 are coming at the end to join in on the feast. This is awesome!

While all of this is going on I with the help of several friends and board members have been planning our fundraiser that will be in Los Angeles on August 9th at the gorgeous Vibiana, downtown. We also now have a new, amazing logo, the website is now all finished, thank you to Martin, “the man” for this and tons of great contacts are being made for the future of Stu and The Kids.

I spoke with Korn the other day and he and the Kids are doing well. They are adjusting to school and their new apartments. They are safe, happy and excited to continue their education. I miss them and cannot wait to see them when I go back to Chiang Mai.

More coming soon. Thanks so much for stopping by to see what we are up to. Bye for now, -Stu.

5th Annual Blueplate-Stu and The Kids fundraiser 2015

$50 per person, includes tax & tip (cash/checks only,Stu and The Kids)
Dinner Served Family Style at 6:30

Thai fried snacks

Yum Woon Sen Taley
(Glass noodle salad with seafood and ground pork)

Gang Kiew Wan Gai
(Northern Style, spicy-sweet coconut curry with chicken)

Pad Pok King
(Thai stir-fried vegetables with Ginger and wood ear mushrooms)

Gang Pla Ping
(Grilled fish with curry in banana leaves)

Khao Suia
(Steamed Jasmine Rice)

Khao Neow Ma Muang
(Fresh Thai Mango with Sweet Sticky Rice, Coconut Sauce and toasted Mung Beans)

BLUEPLATE
47 S Main St
Mullica Hill, New Jersey
08062
*PLEASE CALL TO MAKE A RESERVATION (856) 478-2112*
blueplate1@verizon.net

Stu and The Kids, 501c3 would like to thank you for your support on this evening and of course an extra shout out to Jim and Michelle Malaby, owners of Blueplate. 5 years is awesome and we could not have gotten this far with out your help, thank you. All of the proceeds from this event will go to help at least 6 Hill Tribe kids from Northern Thailand to continue their education by having a chance to go to university. Your contributions will help to pay for their college tuition, school uniforms, schoolbooks and supplies, housing and food. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Thank you so much, –Stu.

Chopped All-Stars Tournament Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Celebrity chef, Eric Greenspan is going to be competing on the Food Network TV show, Chopped All-Stars Tournament and his selected charity is us, Stu and The Kids. If you are in Los Angeles please come out to Bodega Wine Bar in Santa Monica to watch the show with us. Eric and I will be preparing a bit of Thai food, Jason and Greg will send out a few snacks too and Bodega will also be donating 15% of the evening to us at Stu and The Kids. The show is an hour and starts at 7 PM but come earlier, I will be there….
If you cannot be with us check out your local TV listing and enjoy, good luck Eric.

http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2015/03/chopped-all-stars-season-4/

Happy Graduation 2015

Well this was the end my 6th year of teaching at the Wat Don Chan, a great year, a fun year, a busy year. I am so proud of the kids this year, we had some great students. I taught a bunch of classes alone so I really had a chance to interact a lot more and broke some of their shyness. Some of the kids will now go back to their villages, some will work in Bangkok and Chiang Mai and some will be continuing their educations at different schools and universities. We raised money to help 3 young ladies this year.

Mon will be studying accounting at a local technical school, On will be studying to be a teacher at a local college and she will go for 5 years. Belle got accepted to one of the best universities in northern Thailand, she will study for 4 years in the facility of computer-business, good luck to all of these ladies. We will meet every month to talk about school and what is going on as well as being the time to give them their monthly money for living expenses. I will keep you all posted on how they are doing. While I am in the states, Korn is taking care of this job for me. I am sad to not be there with them but glad Korn can do it and glad I can be here in the states to fundraise to help out more kids.

Som Yut, Mimi and Korn are already enrolled in school for their next semesters too. Korn will have a 6 month internship with Thai airways and we are so proud of him, he is going for his dream and he is so close.

My friend Scott from Florida but we met in Chiang Mai donated 12 mini tablets so after the graduation ceremony we gave them to the top kids in the graduating class, they were so excited, they had no idea what I wanted when I called them into the English class room. I wish I could have taken a picture of all of their faces, thank you so much Scott.

A great end to a great year. -Stu

501c3 status

Stu and The Kids is now a fully registered, tax-exempt nonprofit organisation. We started the paper work back in September of 2014 and thought it would take a year or more. We were wrong, as of January 29th 2015, we can now call Stu and The Kids a 501c3 organisation. I am so excited to finally be here after nearly 6 years of volunteering and working with these kids here in northern Thailand. Thank you all so very much for your continued support and love. Stay tuned for more great things to happen. Peace, -Stu

Long over due update

This past year has been really busy for me and Stu and The Kids. As stated in some of the other blog post we are almost a full blown, tax-exempt, not for profit charity. We are meant ot heard something by the beginning of February and let’s hope so because I have a celebrity chef friend that is doing a show and wants to win and donate the money to us. Fingers crossed for us please, thanks. The board members have been super helpful this year too doing the banking, the taxes and helping spread the word about the work that we do.

I have been doing lot’s of paper work, social media and meeting with potential partners including Nancy from Texas that is going to do an interview with me on I Heart Radio, I will keep you posted. I feel working with other people and other charities can help us all. Right now I am helping to plan a fundraiser here in Chiang Mai with a great group, very small but they need help and I am so happy to do it, the kids are really great at the Stratton ABC Foundation all 10 of them.

Martin has been and will continue to help me with the website, which will change very soon. He has also been helping with the new logo, stay tuned….

My friend Erik, a great photographer and chef is coming here to Chiang Mai very soon for a month and he is going to take some great photos of the kids and I. I am hopeful to use some of them to sell to help support our charity, that will be a section on the site as well as for silent auction at the fundraiser when back in the states.

I am going to add lots of pictures here for you to see of the last few months of classes and fun. I have had a few cooking classes too. One class we made pizza bread and another we did cookie pops. The kids had a blast and so did I. Thanks so much for reading, more later. -Stu

Help Wanted with Social Media

Stu and The Kids is now getting on it and doing lot’s of social media, Instagram and Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/stuandthekids. Please look us up and “like” us. I try to add lots of pictures and little things about what is going on with us.

Stu and The Kids is looking for someone that “knows their stuff” pertaining to social media. I know there are more ways to get more done and get the word out better about the work we do but I just need a bit of help. So if you know anyone or you are that someone please contact me on here and let me know and we can discuss this further. This is a volunteer position and part time here in Chiang Mai or remotely. Thank you so much. Peace, -Stu

Wan Deg (Children’s Day)

Every year Thailand celebrates their children with Children’s Day or Wan Deg as it is called and translates into day child. This year is rained so much for 2 days so many of the people that come out, sadly did not. Normally people are there the night before preparing food and setting up game booths. Luckily for the kids the rain stopped that morning and some people cam out.

The kids have yet another show, Hill Tribe cooking competition and tons of food with lots of sugar, lol. Some college students also cam out and gave away prizes and played games. I always do something for the kids and this year I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In one of my English classes we came up to a chapter about food and beverages. One of the assignments was to write about how to make a peanut butter sandwich and although the kids eat tons of peanuts, peanut butter is something they do not eat. I told them we could make and try them on Children’s Day and they were a hit to say the least.

If you are ever in Thailand during this time, January 10th you should come to the Wat here in Chiang Mai or look up any activities in the area and join in, you cannot, not have fun. Also the weather is nice at this time of year for a visit.