Roxi Douglas from The Citadel helping out at Rutherford Junior High School student Kiriana Power as she prepares to make her burger in their burger-making competition. Photo / Bevan Conley
Roxi Douglas from The Citadel helping out at Rutherford Junior High School student Kiriana Power as she prepares to make her burger in their burger-making competition. Photo / Bevan Conley
The pay it forward scheme run by Castlecliff cafe The Citadel has borne fruit, helping teach a school cooking class the art of the burger, paying for softball fees for another and giving some lucky students a bit of work experience.
Roxi Douglas and Malcolm Whitlock from The Citadelvolunteered their time and burger buns on Tuesday afternoon as part of Rutherford Junior High's burger-making competition.
A mix 15 year 7 and 8 students participated in the competition run by cooking co-ordinator Lynne Vinsen.
Douglas said judging the competition was part of their pay it forward scheme.
The scheme was introduced to give diners at The Citadel the opportunity to add a little to their bill to be put towards families and people in need, or those worthy of praise within the community.
"We sort of looked at our pay it forward trust fund of both being the contributing of the funds that we've gathered and passing them on to people and the other side is what we're doing today and that's volunteering our time."
Students worked in pairs to create one burger each with ingredients provided for them.
Whitlock gave students some advice on what he looks for in a good burger, having recently spent five years in Vanuatu running a beach bar and creating lots of burgers.
The pair donated burger buns to help make the students' burger making competition a success. Photo / Bevan Conley
During the cooking and creating process the pair moved throughout the class teaching students different cooking and cutting techniques.
The winner of the competition received a $40 voucher and second place received a $30 voucher they could use at The Citadel.
The top three burger makers were also invited to visit The Citadel and make their own burgers.
Douglas said it will give those students the chance to some work experience, see what it is like inside a restaurant kitchen and spend time with qualified chefs.
The pair have also put money from their scheme into Aranui School.
They have paid for the school's softball team fees and paid the sports fees of a selected group of children until the end of the year.
