On June 9, 2012, the People-4-People Employment Assistance Program launched a Culinary Arts Job Training Program for unemployed persons seeking employment in the food service industry. Students received instructions in food safety, practical kitchen skills, as well as job readiness training.
This pilot program was sponsored by seven Montgomery County churches (Immanuel’s Church, People’s Community Baptist Church, Lutheran Church of St. Andrew, Resurrection Baptist Church, Mount Jezreel Baptist Church in Silver Spring and Redeemer Lutheran Church, St. Paul Catholic Church in Damascus), and Christ Lutheran non-profit GGT in Bethesda provided the licensed kitchen space.
Chef Paul and Chef DaVid are managing partners of the Chef Master CDER Café in Silver Spring. Their company, ChefMaster.org of Metro DC, was hired to provide the Culinary Arts Job Training. Both chefs are Certified Instructors and Registered Proctors for the National Restaurant Association ServSafe® course.
Instruction was held on 3 Saturdays in June and 3 Saturdays in July at the Christ Lutheran non-profit Graceful Growing Together (GGT) licensed kitchen in Bethesda. An additional evening of preparation for the graduation reception was held at the Chef Master CDER Café.
At the graduation ceremony held at the Lutheran Church of St. Andrew in Silver Spring, students showcased their new culinary skills for 77 friends, relatives and invited guests.
Several of the Culinary Arts Job Training students have passed the ServSafe® proctored examination. Some have honed their skills by volunteering at the Chef Master CDER Café or for the Bethesda Cares Farm to Freezer program. So far one student has taken a field trip to a commercial supplier where restaurants shop.
People-4-People Employment Assistance Program personnel will continue to work with and mentor students for a full year.
David Robert Lambert 
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