The Community Kitchen at the Rhode Island Food Bank is a great example of the organizations that the Jacques Pépin Foundation supports. Low-income and jobless adults participate in a 14 week, full time course that teaches the culinary, job and life skills required to enter the workforce as a food service professional.
Jacques Pépin Foundation co-founder Rollie Wesen is a chef and culinary professor at Johnson & Wales University. He teaches regularly at the Community Kitchen providing in depth instruction and understanding in culinary technique.
Organizations like this across the country work to provide skills and access to the job market for those who need it most.
“To put on a chef coat is an equalizing act. For aspiring professionals, if they have some skills but more importantly a desire to work hard and learn, they can be successful in a professional kitchen. Once you put on the jacket, no one cares where you came from, or who you worship, or the color of your skin – all that matters is ‘can you do the job?’ We have millions of people who would work if they had employable skills and 650,000 vacancies in the food service industry. Community kitchens are a win for everyone!”
Chef Rollie Wesen, M.Ed.
Find out more about the RI Food Bank Community Kitchen.
