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Teens Serving Up Food For Charity

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By LENORA LAKE

Tribune correspondent

Published: September 10, 2008

TAMPA PALMS - When a couple of best friends got bored one summer, they started cooking.

Their hobby turned into an annual dinner that raises money for international humanitarian and environmental causes.

On Labor Day, Mallika Dubey, 17, and Shreya Murthy, 17, both of Tampa Palms, hosted their fourth annual five-course charity dinner. The event at Compton Park, attended by about 45 family members and friends, raised about $1,000 for the Solar Electric Light Fund.

"We thought about doing something for our family and friends. Then it just evolved into doing a charity dinner," said Dubey, a senior at Tampa Preparatory Academy. "It was like trying to take something we like to do and do it for a better cause."

The first event was at Murthy's home. It raised about $400 for Save the Children.

"We charged a dinner fee of $10, and $3 for children, but people were writing us checks for $100," said Murthy, a senior in the International Baccalaureate program at King High School. "We learned from that and took away the whole initial cost and just let people give what they felt was right."

The meals are vegetarian , and the menu varies. For the Sept. 1 dinner, they served spiced and sugared nuts, tomato bruschetta, black bean lime soup, green bean and beet salad with honey mustard vinaigrette, assorted quiches and white chocolate raspberry mousse with almond biscotti.

Previous years' menus have included homemade hummus on pita bread, tomato mozzarella skewers, spinach lasagna, asparagus soup and Key lime cheesecake. They start with recipes from cookbooks and the Internet and modify them.

"Every year, we do an eclectic mix of different cuisine," Murthy said. "If you are a guest in a restaurant, you get five courses of Italian."

Naresh Kotwani, a family friend and real estate investor from New Tampa, has attended all four events. He said he likes the "uniqueness" of the dinners, and they give him a chance to visit with friends.

"They are excellent chefs," Kotwani said. "The food is divine. Each year, it is something different, and they do a marvelous job. "

At the dinner, the hostesses talk about the charities their work supports, which also have included the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere and Save Darfur. This year's charity, SELF, is a nonprofit organization that works with people in developing nations to build solar power systems.

Kotwani said he appreciates the information about the cause. He said, "In their small way, they are bringing some awareness to this crisis."

Both teens are in school clubs that perform community service. Both plan to attend college but are uncertain of their careers. Dubey is interested in visual arts, international studies and political science; Murthy's interests are sustainable energy, political science and constitutional law.

Their parents - Rita and Rajiv Dubey and Shalini and Uday Murthy - friends for many years, helped with last-minute details at the dinner.

Dubey said, "I think my dad went to Publix like five times last night between 9 and 10" to get additional items or those they had forgotten.

They also assisted with serving the guests.

"The soup is always tough. It's got to be hot. And our parents are freaking out," Murthy said as she carried the steaming bowls.

The hostesses' parents said they are proud of what their daughters have accomplished.

Shalini Murthy said: "We've raised them to believe that to whom a lot is given, a lot is expected. This is giving of yourself."

Shreya Murthy said the dinners have been a learning experience in many ways. "We live in a pretty sheltered area," she said. "Seeing the people we are helping, who live on less than a dollar a day, it really puts our lives into perspective."

During the dinner, the hostesses encouraged a table of middle school students to get involved in projects that help locally or globally.

"It's not just doing volunteer work ... just going out and doing something. It's taking your interest and doing better with it," Dubey said.

Correspondent Lenora Lake can be reached at (813) 865-4851 or llake@tampatrib.com.

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