The Food Bank of Delaware graduated a 35th class of students from their Culinary School Tuesday.
The 14-week program helps unemployed or underemployed persons to become career-ready. It trains students referred by community organizations, providing them with skills in the culinary arts and food safety, then places them in internships to gain real world experience sought by employers in the food industry.
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The schools have graduated over 300 students since they began in 2002. President and CEO Patricia Beebe refers to the program, which operates in Newark and Milford, as one of the pillars of the Food Bank’s efforts to relieve hunger in the State.
“That’s one of the reasons why people need food assistance is because they don’t have jobs and they don’t have job skills,” Beebe said. “So we see this as a very important piece to deal with poverty in a really positive way.”
Chief instructor Nicole Wilson sees herself as a role model for her students, and feels she can make her lessons stick if she leads by example.
"If I can make them be givers and not takers, then I did my job, as well as teach cooking,” she said. "I think changing their thought process - when it goes into a positive proactive way - I did my job."
Wilson said it can be tough to motivate a group with large diversity. Some are experiencing their first taste of freedom from incarceration; others are simply looking at a better career path.
"They are guarded," she said. “They are closed off at first. But then they tend to grow - with me implementing my morals and values and work ethic and knowledge - they implement it into their own skill set and they prevail with that information and excel."
Graduate Linda Coleman recently found herself unemployed for over a year without any way to fund education or career training. She was unaware of who paid for her training, but not having to worry about the financial burden allowed her the flexibility to apply herself.
"I'm looking forward to where my next journey will be from the education and training I received at the Food Bank of Delaware," Coleman said, adding that she would like to eventually open a small breakfast kitchenette in her neighborhood of Hilltop in Wilmington.
Following the ceremony, the nine graduates treated guests to a Caribbean-themed lunch they prepared themselves, featuring jerk chicken, southern fried cabbage and mango avocado salad.
JP Morgan Chase, a longtime patron of the Food Bank, presented a $100,000 donation check to the Food Bank. Their money will help fund the culinary school scholarships and its other hunger relief efforts.