Sure, Jamie has Fifteen, but Toronto has the YMCA. The Culinary Skills Training Program at the YMCA sounds pretty fantastic, and some of the pictures from this article are drool-inducing. The Torontoist recently featured a story on the Basic Culinary Skills Training program.
In it, Kaori Furue describes a tour of the new location at Metro Hall, complete with details about a new Cafe opening today, as well as a description of the 10 additional student spaces created out of funding from the Boston Pizza Foundation. Here is another good example of a Social Enterprise in Toronto. At the Cafe, students will prepare cold and hot items to be sold during breakfast / lunch, with “proceeds going back into the program to cover operating costs, supplies and rent”. As someone who loves all things food related, the culinary tie-in is close to my heart.
The Basic Culinary Skills Program is a 12-week program for people who receive social assistance. Once completed, students receive a Communication Food Handlers Certification, as well as 344 hours of hands-on kitchen training.
Our neighbourhood YMCA at Yonge and Grosvenor
The program, and its new location, is a great example of a community-based win-win-win program (like Timeraiser!). Students learn essential culinary skills, equipping them with quality job training, the downtown core gains a new foodie spot with a cause, and employers have a larger pool of qualified graduates from which to hire from.
I can’t wait to head down and check out the Cafe (slated to open today!), and will be sure to upload pictures to our Civic Footprint Twitter feed when I do.
