It’s Women’s History Month, and News 12 is celebrating extraordinary women who make a difference in our society.

News 12 takes you inside a New Jersey kitchen where one remarkable woman is impacting both her community and students. 

Rene Gonzalez, founder of Bambino Chef in Jersey City, is giving a whole new meaning to learning in the kitchen. 

“My mission was to educate children on the importance of cooking their own food, making food from scratch, building healthy eating habits of being comfortable, but also being confident,” says Gonzalez.

A cooking school, Bambino Chef provides cooking classes, camps, field trips, birthday parties and is also the primary after-school cooking enrichment provider in the area.

“While we are cooking, we try to incorporate different things. You learn about the history of ingredients, origins of the recipes, we learn about science, how different ingredients come together, and we also learn about math,” says Gonzalez.

The Bambino Chef team currently offers both socially distanced in-person and virtual cooking classes. Students range from age 2 to 15 years old.  

While the mission is to educate children in the kitchen, Bambino Chef engages in giving back to the community by helping organizations like Sandwiches for Shelter, No Kid Hungry, Healthy Bambino and, most recently, raising money for local food pantries for those affected due to the pandemic.

“Growing up, I wanted to change the world…And I wanted to do to have a good impact. And as I got older, I realized you don't have to do it on this big, huge scale. You can do it concentrated one person at a time or one neighborhood at a time,” says Gonzalez.

While sharing her love and lessons of the kitchen, Gonzalez shares her experiences to mentor and guide future generations to success.

“It's a women's history month, and it is empowering. It feels I get the sense of pride because it's not easy to run a business in general, but it's empowering. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do what I do, what I love the most. It feels empowering also for me to pass on my skills to others, but also share my experiences with others,” says Gonzalez.