the almanac D E C E M B E R 7, 2025
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
a thealmanac.net
facebook.com/SouthHillsAlmanac
@shillsalmanac
Rasika Khedikar (right) with Jessica Peconi
SUBMITTED
1 meal at a time Upper St. Clair students helps tackle food insecurity PHOTOS: KAREN MANSFIELD
love of carrying on family traditions,” said Adger, who baked Russian tea cakes and cranberry pistachio shortcake cookies. “It was great to meet new people who shared the same interest in baking that we do.” A Blizzard teammate, Brad Gessner, also doesn’t mind rolling up his sleeves and baking: he once churned out 400 dozen cookies for his daughter’s wedding. For Catherine Gruda of Weirton, W.Va., captain of The 12 Days of Blingmas, the cookie exchange was a fun way to start the Christmas season. Her husband, John Gruda, dressed as a toy soldier, wrote a song - a “blingy” version of The 12 Days of Christmas - for the cookie exchange. “This is the perfect beginning to the holiday season. We had so much fun getting things together,” said Gruda, whose team was made up of relatives and friends who divided the 12 days of Christmas among each other. “Everybody’s a skilled baker and they pretty much ran with the theme, and they turned out beautifully,” said Gruda. Gruda is a member of the Wedding Cookie Table Community, which Magone started a decade ago and has grown
About 40% of food in the United States goes to waste, while 1 in 7 people face food insecurity. It’s a striking contradiction – one that members of the Upper St. Clair High School community are working to change. Upper St. Clair High School junior Rasika Khedikar is one of those people. Defining food insecurity as “lacking nutritional value” or lacking access to “home-cooked, healthy meals,” Rashika has taken on the issue head-on. After visiting family in India during her freshman year, she said she was deeply impacted by the hunger she witnessed. Her solution: Cooking with Care, a student club that cooks, packages and donates nutritious meals to those in need. Club sponsor Jessica Peconi defines food insecurity as the inability to get good food from a “financial, time or geographical perspective.” A professional chef and culinary arts teacher since 2017, Peconi has seen firsthand the amount of food wasted every day in both the food service and education industries. Khedikar and Peconi joined forces during Rasika’s freshman year to form Cooking with Care. “It's important that when we’re teachers who have clubs to really make sure it’s student-centered,” said Peconi, who takes more of a guiding role in the club while empowering Khedikar to lead. “Rasika is the one coming up with ideas, leading the projects, and executing her vision.” To reduce waste even further, the club often uses leftover ingredients from Peconi’s culinary classes, taking an even more sustainable approach. Meetings typically involve 10 to 15 club members writing notes to attach to each package, cooking meals, or packing food for distribution. Food drives are held regularly to collect ingredients for cooking sessions, during which 30 to 40 boxes of meals are produced. To deliver, Cooking with Care partners with 412 Food Rescue, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that redistributes surplus food throughout the region. 412 Food Rescue has a network of more than 700 food donors and 400 nonprofit partners to ensure food gets to those who need it most. Once Rasika reports how many meals the club has prepared, 412 matches the donation with a recipient organization. During the high school’s Academic Resource Time, 412 Food Rescue trucks arrive at the school to pick up and transport the meals. Becca Simon, the Food Donor Relations Manager at
SEE COOKIE PAGE A2
SEE MEAL PAGE A2
BAKING JOY
Team Yule Love our Cookies participated in the World’s Largest Christmas Cookie Exchange at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
Wedding Cookie Table Community attempts cookie exchange record By Karen Mansfield Staff writer
kmansfield@observer-reporter.com
Oh, how sweet it was. The Wedding Cookie Table Community attempted to set a record for the World’s Largest Christmas Cookie Exchange on Nov. 30 at the Washington County Fairgrounds - and across the globe. In all, 33 teams, decked out in Christmas-themed outfits, exchanged cookies at the fairgrounds, and another 35 teams participated remotely at sites across the United States and in New Zealand, where bakers in the NZ Standard time zone were 17 hours ahead. “You all should be proud of yourselves. What you’ve done today is amazing,” said organizer Laura Magone, a Monongahela resident and founder of The Wedding Cookie Table Community. She came up with the idea for the record attempt, which also serves as a fundraiser for the Monongahela Area Historical Society. While the official cookie count - conducted by certified judges - wasn’t immediately available, Magone estimated the 10-member teams baked an estimated
80,000 cookies. It looked a lot like Christmas inside Kringle’s Kitchen at the fairgrounds, where teams not only baked cookies but also set up holiday-themed tables. Among the teams were “Yule Love Our Cookies,” the Steeler-themed “Flour Power,” a Christmas carol-themed “The 12 Days of Blingmas,” a Hawaiian-themed “Jingle Leidis” complete with a Christmas tree made of pineapples decorated with sunglasses and grass skirts, and Team Befana Bakers, based on Italian folklore where a witch-like old woman who rides a broomstick delivers presents to good children on the night before the Epiphany. Many of the teams were made up of bakers who had not met until Magone posted plans for the record-setting attempt on Facebook. Stacey Adger of Youngstown, Ohio, served as team captain for Baking Up A Blizzard, which included bakers who knew each other and pastry makers Adger met after they responded to a Facebook post seeking team members. “We’re so excited that we’re here today. We all share a lovBakinge of baking, a
No consolation PHOTOS BY ELEANOR BAILEY/THE ALMANAC
Peters Township ended its bid for an undefeated season and a state championship in football when the Indians dropped a 31-28 decision to Bishop McDevitt in a PIAA Class 5A semifinal game played Nov. 29 at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona. A walk-off 24-yard field goal by Aidan Grella with one second to play sealed Peters Township’s fate. The Indians finished with a 13-1 overall record that featured a conference championship and WPIAL district title. Above Peters Township assistant coach Gary McCullough attempts to console Lucas Shanafelt (0) after the loss while defensive coordinator Darrin McMillon hugs linebacker James Spratt (33) below. For more details on the game and season, turn to B1 of The Almanac.
LOCATION S.F. student’s artwork chosen for calendar PAGE A6 What’s happening, B3
SPORTS P.T. falls to Bishop McDevitt PAGE B1 Classifieds, B4
SIGHTS & SOUNDS ‘Nutcracker’ returns to the Benedum PAGE B3 Real estate transactions, A5