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Rich Township culinary students to serve food at Rev. Jesse Jackson funeral at House of Hope in Chicago

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Suzanne Le Mignot
Suzanne Le Mignot
Anchor/Reporter
Suzanne Le Mignot serves as CBS2 Chicago's weekend news morning anchor and weekday reporter.
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Suzanne Le Mignot

/ CBS Chicago

A group of culinary students from the south suburbs spent Thursday making preparations to help serve the food at Rev. Jesse Jackson's memorial at House of Hope in Chicago Friday.

Students from the Rich Township High School District 227 Culinary Program spent their day at the Fine Arts Campus in Richton Park, preparing for a day of service in honor of the late civil rights icon. Each student will wake up at 4 a.m. Friday to serve food to the Jackson family and friends at House of Hope for "The People's Celebration."

"It's a really big thing, because, I mean, this is a moment in history," said student Carl Jeffries.

Chef Darius Bright, the class's instructor, joined forces with Victor Love of Josephine's Southern Cooking in the Chatham neighborhood to involve his students in the day of service. Love organized the effort, getting a series of restaurants to donate food for the celebration, as well as the private homegoing on Saturday.

"This is their volunteering time, and this is definitely giving back. I mean, it's the Jackson family, and Reverend Jackson, being the icon that he was, set a precedent," Bright said.

The students are in a three-year program involving everything from food preparation, sanitation, and safety to restaurant management. The program is designed to prepare them for culinary school.

"When I cook, I'm normally energized, excited, or happy and stuff, and I translate that into my excellence and my food," said student Jaidyn Warner.

These students aren't just learning how to cook and plate food; the lesson is centered on compassion.

"It's really fulfilling, you know, being able to just give. It really does warm the heart," Jeffries said.

They also helped serve food at Rainbow PUSH Headquarters last week for the public visitations for Jackson.

"He kept going after Martin Luther King passed away. He didn't give up," said Cortney Alexander, student. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So I get to do it, and I'm happy that I'm the one that was chosen, and the one that was trusted to serve them."

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