Senior Wins Human Relations Award

The award recognizes students who demonstrate outstanding leadership in promoting human relations and building more inclusive communities. Rasika will receive a $5,000 scholarship in recognition of her commitment to serving others.

Rasika earned the award for founding Cooking With Care as a freshman to help address food insecurity in the community. What began with just a handful of students has grown into a club of more than 100 members that prepares, packages and donates nutritious meals to individuals and families in need.

“When I started Cooking With Care as a freshman, it was only me and a couple of friends in the kitchen, but over time the club grew more and more, and it started to get recognized throughout all grade levels,” Rasika said. 

In collaboration with Upper St. Clair High School culinary arts teacher Jessica Peconi, students – working in groups of up to 20 at a time – prepare meals in the school's kitchen lab and package them in single-serving containers. Each meal also includes a handwritten note of encouragement from a student volunteer.

Rasika credits much of the club’s growth to the support of her teachers. 

“A lot of them would help advertise food drives and let me hang up flyers in their classrooms,” Rasika said. “In fact, my middle school history teacher heard about what I was doing, and invited me back to the middle school to teach his students about how to start their own organizations and explain to them the problems of food insecurity in Allegheny County. The following year, when those eighth graders were freshmen, a lot of them signed up for CWC and decided to help out.”

School Counselor Bethany Lash and Assistant Principal Dan Beck nominated Rasika for the award, citing the lasting impact she has made both within the school and throughout the community.

“Rasika’s mission has made a huge impact in our community,” Mrs. Lash said. “In addition to growing the club to over 100 members and creating a heightened awareness of food insecurity in our community, Rasika has established meaningful partnerships within and beyond Upper St. Clair.”

To help distribute the meals, Cooking With Care partners with 412 Food Rescue, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing food waste and increasing access to nutritious food.

“Rasika initiated a partnership with 412 Food Rescue to assist her and her club with the pickup and delivery of the packaged meals,” Mrs. Lash said. “Together, Rasika and Cooking With Care have donated more than 2,000 pounds of food to those experiencing food insecurity.”

As her senior year approaches, Rasika hopes her classmates recognize that Cooking With Care is about much more than preparing meals.

“I don’t want them to see this as another culinary club or something to participate in or get volunteer hours for,” she said. “Food insecurity is truly a global issue, and a lot of the time people don’t understand how big of a problem it is in their own area. Every human deserves a home-cooked, healthy meal.”

The Caplan-Lieber Human Relations Award is presented annually to a western Pennsylvania high school student who demonstrates exceptional leadership in combating prejudice and fostering inclusive, diverse communities.

As the sponsoring educational institution, Upper St. Clair High School will also receive a $500 award from the Pittsburgh Area Jewish Committee Donor Advised Fund and the Jewish Community Center. 

“Ms. Khedikar is a truly outstanding candidate, and the Pittsburgh Area Jewish Committee Donor Advised Fund and Jewish Community Center are delighted to make this award,” James Lieber, honorary chair of the donor-advised fund, said.

Wherever her path leads after high school, Rasika hopes to carry the mission of Cooking With Care with her.

“Though food insecurity is a huge problem, doing something is better than doing nothing,” Rasika said. “I’ve personally witnessed how a small idea that just a 14-year-old girl had her freshman year turned into something big with real impact.”