By The Hand Club for Kids brings younger folks downtown for a nice eating expertise

CHICAGO (CBS) –You have possible skilled a meal in a restaurant many occasions, however such is just not the case for everybody.

CBS 2’s Steven Graves took us Tuesday to a youngsters’ nice eating expertise that’s catering to a particular group of individuals.

There have been full stomachs and hearts for all of the younger individuals who gathered round a desk Tuesday at Maggiano’s, at 516 N. Clark St. in River North.

“It’s something about that type of fellowship that we can have a memory,” stated Davina Wilson, a counselor on the nonprofit group By The Hand Club for Kids.

The meals at Maggiano’s is nice, and the meatballs are huge. But it’s the whole expertise that the youngsters who visited Tuesday will always remember.

“We do do stuff, but like here – like stuff like dressing up and coming here and all that – no,” stated Mykiara Hodges. “So I like it.”

Mykiara is from the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood on town’s Far South Side. She not often comes downtown, and the expertise was a deal with for her and a few dozen or so different teenagers.

The nonprofit group By The Hand has taken the scholars from Chicago’s South Side not solely to Maggiano’s, but additionally on many different adventures and to different nice eating institutions.

“It was like new foods I’ve haven’t tried,” Mykiara stated.

She loved steak and purple rice, however was not wild in regards to the octopus, which she described as “gooey.”

But Wilson says every dish and drink serves up a higher goal.

“You know, it’s quicker to get Popeyes, McDonald’s, or something like that – so have something like this for the kids – whether or not they’ve experienced this before – it’s exposure,” Wilson stated. It’s to provide a chance.”

Now, about two years into By The Hand’s NXT program for top schoolers, it helped Mykiara enhance her grades. She has graduated from faculty and hopes to work with kids.

And all of it begins with publicity to a different slice of life.

By The Hand’ additionally takes college students to high schools and conferences with entrepreneurs.