Jeremy Wilder hasn’t even lived two decades, but the former Wareham High School student has already started his own nonprofit education foundation.

The 19-year-old Bristol Community College student, Mason Vasconcellos, 19, Kelly Merlo, 19, and Shayna Santiago, 19, began GLEAM Abroad this past summer, and already have a benefit jag cook-off planned for Oct. 10 at the Onset VFW.

Though the organization itself is still young, Wilder said starting an educational nonprofit has been on his mind for some time.

“I didn’t want to wait until I got a degree in business to help people,” Wilder said. “It’s one of my biggest goals in life. I decided to break the rules, I guess, and I am trying to make it work.”

Wilder was also a member of Wareham’s Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) program in high school, which he said was helpful, when it came to finding others with a good head for business to help him create the currently unincorporated nonprofit.

“I spent some time planning on my own, and then sent messages to all the people I could think of from DECA, and we went from there,” Wilder said.

Because he grew up in Wareham, Wilder said, his first thought was naturally for the Cape Verdean community, a decision also influenced by High School teacher, Henry St. Julien, who, at the time, ran the school’s Global Education Club, to which Vasconcellos belonged. But, before settling on Cape Verde as the group’s first recipient for aid, Wilder said he did “a ton of demographic research”, not only in Wareham, but also in Plymouth, New Bedford, and the Cape region.

“We decided we should start where our roots are,” Wilder said. “We looked at what the school systems were like in Cape Verde. Mason has also personally seen the school systems in Cape Verde, so we definitely took the time to identify the need.”

The acronym "GLEAM" stands for Global Love of Education for All Mankind. Wilder said education is the most important part of helping people in less fortunate areas of the world, saying that the group follows “the fish theory”: “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”

“The sad reality is that a lot of students drop out in late grade school, because they have to stay home, and starting learning how to farm … to feed the family,” Wilder said. “It’s a sad aspect, because they don’t learn how to read or write. It’s a matter of survival.”

To that end, Wilder hopes GLEAM’s first fundraising effort, the jag cook-off at the VFW on Oct. 10, will raise between $400 and $500 – enough, he said, to provide a school with funds for at least one hot meal per student per day.

“They don’t have to stay home and work the fields to survive,” Wilder said. “They can survive by going to school.”

Wilder said the group chose a jag cook-off, because “if you are going to hold a fundraiser for a certain ethnic group, your fundraiser should encourage some element of that culture.”

“Everyone has their own recipe, and it’s a mainstay for Cape Verdean culture,” Wilder said of the traditional beans-and-rice dish.

The cook-off is co-sponsored by the Onset Cape Verdean Festival Association, and will take place at the Dudley L. Brown VFW in Onset on Oct. 10 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Interested contestants must submit applications, as well as a $15 admission fee to enter the contest. Contestants must cook 16 cups of jag, and provide their own tasting utensils and dishes. Decorations are encouraged, as chefs will also be judged based on presentation. There will be a panel of judges, but attendees may also weigh in by becoming tasters. Anyone interested in being a taster must pay $2 at the door on the night of the contest. Tasters will fill out a ballot, and submit their votes to the judges.

Applications must be received by Oct. 5. Applications may be submitted by mail to The GLEAM Abroad Foundation, c/o OCVFA, P.O. Box 722, Onset, MA 02558. The registration fee of $15 must accompany the entry form. Checks or money orders must be made out to the GLEAM Abroad Foundation. No refunds will be made once a contestant is accepted. Once an application has been processed and accepted, the contestant will receive an email by Oct. 8 with their spot to compete in the cook-off.

For questions or more information, contact the GLEAM Abroad Foundation at gleamabroad@gmail.com.