Local organization helps teens learn to cook

RUSSELLVILLE, KY.- For 23 years, Navita Hill also known as Ms. Vee has been cooking not only as a passion but also to feed her family. Her journey was filled with tests and trials that motivated her to tell her story and produce positivity out of her non-profit Cooking with God First no matter what.

Navita Hill, the founder of Cooking With God First tells us, “It’s been a journey. It’s been a journey of ups and downs.  I’ve come back up again. I think my pastor told me, she said, you are a Jack in the box because every time you go down, you sprang back up. ”

Kyrin Cox, a student who is learning to cook shares what this class means to him. He says, “There’s an event called Cooking with God First, it means everything. Anything that involves God, which everything involves God, means a lot to me because he’s done a lot for us.”

Being able to prepare your own meal is not just the necessity of making things from scratch. Ms. Vee also shares how this can also be a fun way to cool off on a hot summer day. She says, “You know, you got a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I teach them how to make stuff from scratch from what they got in the house. If I don’t have this, I can have this. If I don’t have that, I can use this and teach them how to do it. ”

This summer cooking program not only motivates Ms. Vee, it also encourages the students to acknowledge their blessings. Kyrin says, “It has been helping me get out of my comfort zone and just learn something different. ”

From smothered pork chops to ice cream, everything her students make proves that this program is more than just impacting her students through food. Cooking with Miss Vee is a small way to turn her dreams to reality and change a life one meal at a time

“All I want is to see the kids win and that’s my goal If I only reach one. My mission is accomplished.”