York City-based chef, entrepreneur, and teacher Liz Morales has always been around two things: food and love. The Morales family was always cooking, either at home or at church. Often you’d find Liz cooking alongside her late mother for a fundraiser. When she passed away, Liz realized she had to pursue her dream of starting her own catering company that she named Morales Kitchen LLC. After finding herself on the business side of cooking for some time, she was ready to get back to the heart of it.
In November of 2024, when Liz began working at York College of Pennsylvania’s Gunter-Smith Center for Community Engagement, an idea was born- an afterschool program for local young people that empowered and impacted 400 teens within the first two months. When the Cultural Alliance of York County became involved with Liz Morales’s Cooking Up Connection program, we knew we had to help however we could. Liz began working with Justin Ayala, our Arts in Education Regional Director, and became an Arts in Education teacher. Morales Kitchen LLC also went through the application process for a Creative Entrepreneur grant, which she received earlier this year. Cooking Up Connection continued to succeed.
Cooking Up Connection encourages every child to celebrate and educate others about their heritage. Music and recipes from places around the world, like Haiti and Santo Domingo, are shared in this classroom kitchen. When it comes to our young people, Liz wishes more adults would “let them teach us.” To this date, close to 700 young people from the York City School District have been a part of this program.
Cooking Up Connection is a co-created program, which means every part is done in coordination with the young people and community. From composting workshops to fire safety demonstrations in the kitchen, students are learning everything there is to know about cooking food with safety, passion, and love. Students in the program design dishes, choose ingredients and techniques, prepare, plate, and serve the food, and then clean up. They’re proud to make a meal from start to finish that they can take home and share with their families. Parents will call Ms. Liz and ask her if their child could come in on a day off, or thank her for giving their child this experience. Connections with local families is such an enriching piece of this story based in love.
When asked why she’s doing this program, she replied- ‘we’re trying to be the people we needed growing up”.
Unfortunately, the Cultural Alliance has recently been notified that as of September 1, 2026, the state-wide arts in education residency program will no longer be supported by PA Creative Industries, our state arts council. This translates to a loss of $100,000 in support for our arts in education program.
Though that state support is going away, the Cultural Alliance is committed to continuing this deeply valuable educational experience for York County learners BUT we need help from our community, particularly from NEW donors. For our 25th year, we have a goal to recruit 25 new donors to help us close the gap. Any amount received by a new supporter will be matched-providing twice the impact this Giving Tuesday. 25 for 2025-help us bring these vital arts integrated learning experiences to children and adults across the region.
