Yesterday, it was my privilege to attend the graduation of the first class of FoodWorks at the community kitchen of the Maryland Food Bank. Joe and Donnell from Helping Up Mission were 2 of the program’s 8 first graduates. As part of the 14 week training course, they also earned their ServSafe Food Protection Manager certification.
The class’s accomplishments during their training period are impressive During their 14 weeks of kitchen time, they prepared 40,000 pounds of meals which were then packaged by volunteers, frozen and distributed throughout the Food Bank’s network of soup kitchen, food pantries, shelters and feeding programs.
The training was pretty intense, 8 hours a day and 5 days a week – but Donnell and Joe both felt like they were giving back to the community every day. They were also amazed to see how many families regularly benefit from the Food Bank’s efforts.
While Joe and Donnell have quite a bit of experience in the field already, both felt it was a good opportunity to enhance some of their skills and each are scheduled for job orientation later this week. We are proud of them both and look forward to seeing and hearing what God has in store for them in the future.
Congratulations, guys!
Pastor Gary Byers
Spiritual Life Director