On behalf of Foodchain, The National Food-Rescue Network, I thank you for providing coverage to Community Kitchens of Chicago (“Program for needy really cooking,” Metro, June 11).
To place the program in its broader context: Community Kitchens of Chicago is just one of nine programs that operate from Foodchain’s Community Kitchens, a national job-training, food-recycling initiative. The national initiative, funded by Philip Morris Companies Inc., supports the startup and expansion of programs that provide homeless and unemployed students with professional kitchen skills. Upon graduation, students are prepared for gainful employment in the burgeoning food-service industry.
The Chicago program was just one of 12 food-rescue programs that received financial support in 1997, the first year of the initiative. We expect to support as many as 20 programs this year.
Foodchain is a national network that supports the rapidly growing field of food-rescue programs. These 133 local programs collect surplus, unserved food from restaurants, hotels and other food establishments and safely distribute it to non-profit agencies that serve people in need.
The food-rescue program at the Greater Chicago Food Depository is a member of our network. Although it is Foodchain’s mission to help provide emergency food aid to people who need it, the Community Kitchens Initiative takes the fight against hunger to the next level by addressing a root cause of hunger unemployment.
