Future Chefs is a privately-funded, school to career program working with high school culinary arts students in the Greater Boston area.

 

VISION:
Future Chefs envisions a world in which all young people are supported through the transition from adolescence to adulthood and have ample, quality opportunities to reach their potential for economic self sufficiency and personal fulfillment.

 

MODEL:
Future Chefs uses a youth development model in which youth participate in planning, leading and evaluating our program. Students earn scholarships and apprenticeships for post secondary training. Young participants develop a career plan and receive coaching through caring and supportive relationships with educators, staff and industry mentors.

 

IMPACT:
Future Chefs connects young people to resources such as, job opportunities, scholarships for post secondary training and mentorships. These opportunities are available to students who maintain their commitment to the Future Chefs program throughout their junior and senior years of high school. In these two transformative years, students work to identify skills – both in the kitchen and in life – that need improvement. With adult and peer support, students find ways to meet the expectations and standards required to succeed in the field.

 

Future Chefs teaches students to be agents of their own success and provides avenues for growth.The impact of the Future Chefs program is measured concretely:

  • scholarship dollars
  • job placement
  • high school and post secondary diplomas

and developmentally:

  • time management skills
  • how to prepare for an interview
  • financial management skills
  • how to ask for help
  • the importance of practice
A note from Toni Elka, Founder and Executive Director of Future Chefs: January 2009 The current economic downturn is affecting us all, and like you, Future Chefs is determined to come through it intact and ready for better times. In our first year we were fortunate to gain the support of a major, primary funder and assumed that our good work would be enough to ensure the continuation of that support. When the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation decided not to renew our funding on Sept 30th, citing the need to hunker down and protect their assets in this uncertain time, we were faced with an urgent and immediate challenge - to match the balance in our bank account through private gifts and grassroots fundraising efforts. Your contribution, large or small, will make all the difference to the young people we serve. In addition to the 56 deserving high school students in our pipeline, there are 30 “Future Chefs” currently enrolled in college and/or working in jobs in our community; your support is not a one way street, all of our alums mentor younger students, or volunteer at our events or with celebrity chefs at other local fundraisers in the community to keep our network vital and committed. We need to raise $250K in 2009. Our immediate goal is $100K by June and so far we’ve successfully raised $27K from individuals in our community. We are encouraged, yet recognize that we’ve got a long way to go. A contribution to Future Chefs will effectively make a difference in the lives of local, low income families whose children need the opportunities we provide. 2009 is sure to be a transformative and promising year for Future Chefs and the world we live in. Thanks for supporting our efforts to make a difference in our small corner of the planet.
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