Forge City holds Farm to Forge event
Fundraiser includes meal for two, auction
Forge City Works, a nonprofit that provides dining-industry job training for residents of the city and promotes food access and sustainable enterprise in Hartford, is holding a fundraiser until Sept. 23 to raise money for the organization.
Recently, Forge City Works, which also runs a Hartford restaurant and catering and food prep service, had to close its café at Hartford Public Library, the center of its youth training program, after it was denied continued funding from the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act. A spokeswoman for Capital Workforce Partners, which administers the WIOA funding, said this year, the program’s funding shifted its focus to health care, IT, manufacturing and construction initiatives.
“That grant helped underwrite that café. There was no additional support to keep it open,” said Becky Mcguigan, interim executive director of Forge City Works.
The Forge City Works youth program was folded into the adult program at Forge’s The Kitchen at 559 Broad St.
“We are currently exploring how to regrow the training programs after the loss of that one,” Mcguigan said.
The virtual fundraiser includes meals and a Sept. 23 Zoom presentation about the program. All ingredients for the meals are being contributed by Whole Foods.
Those who pay $150 for the “Farm to Forge” event will receive a meal for two, delivered by The Kitchen within 20 miles or picked up there. Meal recipients get a link to see a video on Sept. 23 at 5:30 p.m. about Forge City Works’ “Food for Good” mission.
An auction during the Zoom will raise additional money for the program.
The “Farm to Forge” meal includes a French 75 cocktail or nonalcoholic cocktail, a bottle of either red or white wine, spinach and artichoke dip with artisanal crackers, antipasto skewers, a main dish of either chicken roulade with apple, goat cheese and kale stuffing with autumn farro salad or ravioli, creamy vegetable succotash, garden herbs and Grana Padano cheese and a dessert box with lemon bars, banana bread and brown butter chocolate-chunk shortbread.
Add-ons that can be bought include a kids’ meal ($15), curry chicken salad ($16), meatballs with tomato chutney ($18), spinach, tomato and goat cheese quiche ($18), buttermilk biscuits and apple butter ($15), salted chocolate chip cookies ($16), homemade granola ($8), lavender lemonade ($9), a 12-bottle craft beer sampler ($36), three bottles of sparkling wine ($150), three bottles of Riesling ($75), three bottles of red wine ($100), three bottles of Chardonnay ($75) and assorted Forge City Works swag.
To register for the meal and Zoom, visit forgecityworks.org. Deadline to sign up is Sept. 19 but donations will be accepted after that point.