Houston Food Bank
3811 Eastex Freeway                                                                                                   October 1, 2008                
Houston, TX  77026
713-223-3700
www.houstonfoodbank.org

 
 Houston Food Bank Receives Sodexo Foundation Gift 
The grant benefits the Houston Food Bank’s Community Kitchen Culinary Academy 

HOUSTON …This $14,500 gift enables the Houston Food Bank (HFB) to build the capacity of its Community Kitchen Culinary Academy. Funds will be used to purchase two pieces of kitchen equipment and also to start and stock a culinary resource library for current and former students. The goal is to increase program retention and graduation rates thereby impacting graduates’ expected wages and potential for self-sufficiency post-graduation. 

HFB’s Community Kitchen Culinary Academy, founded in 2002, prepares low-income, underemployed adults for careers in the foodservice industry through free, 12-week training programs.  Students receive hands-on instruction in food preparation and sanitation.  Professional development in the program focuses on resume writing, goal setting, and interviewing skills for success in the culinary arts.  Participants also have the opportunity to become ServSafe Certified.

The Sodexo Foundation’s mission is committed to ending hunger in the United States by fighting its root causes, including poverty, unemployment, and lack of education.  

The Sodexo Foundation is an independent charitable organization sponsoring and supporting initiatives that tackle the root causes of hunger in the United States, with particular focus on helping children and   their families. All administrative costs for the Foundation are paid by Sodexo, Inc. 

Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) is the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization. It is a network of more than 200 member food banks and food-rescue organizations, serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.  The Feeding America network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually.

The Houston Food Bank is filling pantries and filling lives.  Each week, more than 80,000 people can eat thanks to the network of 400 charities that receive fresh produce, meat and non-perishables from the Food Bank.  More than 36 million pounds of food travels from the Houston Food Bank to reach hungry people in 18 southeast Texas counties.