This morning’s Chicken 2 Go was a success! The annual holiday event works the same way as our Turkey Takeout event does at Thanksgiving- local agencies are given meals complete with chicken, ham, turkey, baked goods, collard greens and tasty desserts to make sure that people in our community are fed wholesome meals over the holidays!
We had some wonderful volunteers who braved the cold weather and loaded boxes of food into 24 agencies’ cars!
Here’s a video that captured some moments from the day’s events:
Every graduation is special, but this class happened to be the largest graduating class to date! 11 folks completed the rigorous culinary training with the final exam of preparing a meal for family and friends for the ceremony. All the hard work culminated to that moment from the past 11 weeks of culinary training with Chef Terri and Chef Will. Herman was presented the Valdictorian award, and it was hard to find a dry eye in the room as he gave a speech. Our good friend and excellent photographer, Andy Beal, captured some wonderful moments during the ceremony. We’ve posted all of Andy’s pictures on our Flickr site.
As we blogged earlier this week, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and her staff have been collecting food for our BackPack Buddies Program as part of their Annual Holiday Drive. They raised over 2,000 food items and spent time all this week helping in the warehouse.
And yesterday Secretary Marshall herself came by to volunteer. It was a pretty exciting day at IFFS! Secretary Marshall and our Executive Director Jill Staton Bullard talked about the Holiday Drive and the impact it has on our community.
Kathy has been in the kitchen cooking since she was little, but after graduation from the Culinary Job Training Program, she wants to work in a hotel kitchen. Hear her story:
Caroline learned some knife skills and how to cook different cuisines in CJTP, and hopes to continue working as an intern after she graduates on Friday. Hear her story:
All this week we’ve good friends from the Office of Secretary of State Elaine Marshall coming by and helping us out with BackPack Buddies. The Secretary’s Office picked the Food Shuttle to be the beneficiaries of their Annual Holiday Drive and have raised over 2,000 peices of food for BackPack Buddies. Here are a few pictures of their team in action!
And tomorrow, Secretary Marshall herself will be here herself to pitch in. It should be a pretty exciting Wednesday. Be sure to stop by the Behind the Scenes blog tomorrow for a look at the action!
This Friday will be an exciting day for students of the Culinary Job Training Program– it’s Graduation day! The students have been working tremendously hard for the past 11 weeks learning all sorts of skills in the culinary arts leading up to graduation day at the end of the week.
Throughout the week, we’ll be posting some videos of students sharing why they came to the program, what they’ve learned, and what they are wanting to do upon graduation. The students have come from all sorts of backgrounds, but they all have amazing success stories to share!
As we tweeted earlier this week, the State Farmers Market will host its “Week of Giving” to benefit the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Sunday, Dec. 6, through Saturday, Dec. 12, in the Market Shoppes. Shoppers are invited to leave non-perishable food items under the Giving Tree, as well as make monetary donations. Read more here. Here’s Cece out at the Giving Tree, as well as a message from a special guest.
4 times a year something incredibly exciting happens at the Food Shuttle. (well, let me clarify…working to alleviate hunger in the Triangle with the support of the community is a remarkable thing to see and be a part of on a daily basis!!)
Our Culinary Job Training Program holds a graduation for students in the program who have completed the 11 week class! The ceremony is complete with a wonderful meal prepared by the students as their final exam, certificates, hugs from family and friends, and many joyful tears shed in light of a new beginning for many students. (view photos from the 48th graduating class on our Flickr site)
Over the next week or so, the Behind the Scenes at the Food Shuttle blog will be showcasing video interview clips of the students graduating on December 18th!
Stay tuned for these inspiring videos to be released…the students have been interviewed and the raw footage is on the editing floor.
