The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona has received a grant in the amount of $12,949.00 from the Jewish Community Foundation Rubin Endowment Fund to support the Caridad Community Kitchen Culinary Training Program.
Students began the training program on July 2nd with a comprehensive ten week curriculum. The curriculum has been designed by Chef Jon Wirtis and Debbie Purdon to prepare the students for a career in culinary arts. To select students for the program, they targeted recent and long-term unemployed individuals who are seeking training or retraining in the food service and restaurant industry. The students were selected from the partnering agencies that help with the distribution of Caridad’s prepared meals.
“We greatly appreciate this grant from the Jewish Community Foundation Rubin Fund,” said Chef Jon Wirtis. “It will help us reach the goal to assist people who would otherwise not have access to a culinary training program to become productive individuals.”
The students of the Caridad Community Kitchen Culinary Training Program will receive all the skills necessary for an entry level position in the Restaurant/Hotel Industry. The program plans to train fifty students in the first year of the program.
The Jewish Community Foundation was established in 1964. It is a not-for-profit foundation whose mission is to assist donors and prospective donors in their current philanthropy and in creating legacies to sustain the future.
The Community Food Bank began serving the people of Tucson and Pima County in 1976. The Community Food Bank is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.