‘PREP’ SCHOOL
AN ORLANDO FOOD BANK CHANGES LIVES WITH ITS CULINARY TRAINING PROGRAM.
THE STRUGGLE FELT HOPELESS for U.S. Army veteran Shaneka Jimerson. A single mom who had lost her job, Shaneka and her three children moved to Orlando, Florida, to start a new life. But soon that dream began to fade, and Shaneka and her kids were living out of her car for weeks on end—until the car went up in flames.
“My life was in complete shambles,” Shaneka says. That’s when her luck took a U-turn. The American Red Cross provided temporary housing for the family and connected her with the Second Harvest Culinary Training Program. Life hasn’t been the same since.
Dave Krepcho, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, says there is a great need for culinary workers in Orlando, where the hospitality industry thrives. When Second Harvest began considering a culinary program, its staff consulted with executive chefs from Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort
and found that those firms and others in the area were looking for competent, well-prepared team members.
“So we decided, if we can train people who need jobs, the entire community wins,” Dave says.
Second Harvest’s 16-week course, taught by award-winning professional chefs, is provided at no charge to economically disadvantaged and at-risk adults. Students learn the essentials of working in a commercial kitchen—safe food handling, knife skills, nutrition, how to create recipes—as well as life skills, from creating a household budget to working as a team member and writing a resume. Human resources pros and chefs from local hotels and resorts, as well as Orlando’s Florida Hospital, help conduct practice job interviews for trainees.
Six years after opening its doors, the program boasts more than 250 graduates and a 100 percent placement rate. Shaneka now dreams of starting her own nonprofit food service. In the meantime, she is working in Second Harvest’s commercial kitchen, preparing meals for preschool children.
“Now I am always smiling,” she says. “Second Harvest has changed my life and my family’s life. I love everything they stand for.”