Carper Gets Cooking with the Community Kitchen, Job Training Program Highlighted for Potential to Move People from Welfare to Work

NEWARK, DE – Senator Tom Carper will join Congressman Mike Castle, Chef Instructor Gerry Treese and the first class of chef trainees Monday at the grand opening of the Training Community Kitchen in Newark. The Community Kitchen will feed at-risk individuals with meals prepared by those learning food preparation skills for employment. “The Community Kitchen is a welcome and needed addition to the state, feeding at-risk individuals with food prepared by many of the same population. By pooling resources and making use of innovative partnerships, communities are learning to help each other get a hand up,” said Carper, who is taking the lead in the welfare reform debate with the introduction of his Work and Family Act. “My proposal gives states the flexibility to use programs like this to help move individuals from welfare to work. The Community Kitchen provides food and skills to those most hungry for them.” The Community Kitchen includes a job-training program that enables unemployed individuals to obtain jobs by providing them with hands on instruction in food safety and preparation. The curriculum, offered quarterly, aims to provide job skills to sixty individuals a year. A successful public/private partnership, the Community Kitchen is a collaborative effort between the Food Bank of Delaware and the state’s Goodwill Industries. A bulk of its operating budget is federally funded, with matching monies coming from neighborhood stores, industry associations, colleges and universities. Further details on Carper’s Work and Families Act can be found at http://carper.senate.gov/ WHO: Senator Tom Carper, Congressman Mike Castle and Chef Instructor Gerry Treese WHAT: Grand Opening of the Training Community Kitchen WHEN: Monday, March 4, 2002 11:00 a.m. WHERE: DE Industrial Park 14 Garfield Way, Newark