Food Network chef Giada De Laurentiis toured the Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW), telling stories of how she got started as a chef and began work in television while encouraging the 6th grade girls in the first-year charter school.
“It’s so important for women to mentor each other. Men help each other out more than women help each other,” De Laurentiis told journalists after the tour. “The opportunities are out there for everyone. If you give women that glimmer of hope, they skyrocket.”
De Laurentiis was brought here by former Food Network executive Judy Girard, not the chair of GLOW’s board of directors. She said simply introducing girls to successful women can inspire them.
“It’s seeing someone successful who encourages them to explore,” Girard said. “Even if it’s only meeting them for 15 minutes, it can make a huge difference.”
It’s not De Laurentiis’ first visit to Wilmington. She’s the grand daughter of Agostino “Dino” De Laurentiis, who built the DEG film studio in Wilmington in the 1980s.
“I remember being here when I was 11 and 12, riding a golf cart around the studio and causing a ruckus, De Laurentiis said.
The organizers of the GLOW fundraiser only a few breakfast tickets remain for a chance to meet De Laurentiis. Both lunch and dinner tickets for the Jan. 27 De Laurentiis event have sold out, but tickets for the 7:30 a.m. breakfast show remain. During the events, De Laurentiis will supervise a locally sourced staff of Wilmington chefs in breakfast preparation at the Country Club of Landfall. The event will be featured in a Food Network Facebook live broadcast. Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW), which opened in August 2016. Giada’s events follow Chef Emeril Lagasse’s visit to Wilmington in January 2016, which raised more than $260,000 for GLOW’s opening. To learn more about GLOW or to buy tickets for this breakfast event, go to www.glowacademy.net
