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NEW YORK, NY—Project Renewal, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit homeless services organizations, runsCity Beet Kitchens, a social enterprise catering business dedicated to preparing and serving delicious food while helping New York City’s homeless, low-income, and unemployed residents renew their lives.
Every order with City Beet Kitchens provides a life-changing opportunity — a career path with a living wage, benefits, and growth prospects — to a New Yorker in need. The company’s staff members are graduates of Project Renewal’s award-winning Culinary Arts Training Program which provides intensive training in the kitchen, followed by a six-week internship at a restaurant or corporate dining services company, and job placement.
“All of our staff members are passionate about what they do,” said Barbara Hughes, Director of Food Services at Project Renewal and Co-founder and Director of the Culinary Arts Training Program. “We’re not just a catering company; we help New Yorkers get back on their feet. Our food is prepared with love and appreciation, for New Yorkers by New Yorkers.”
A mission-based enterprise, City Beet Kitchens is focused on providing customers with fresh, high quality food and a personalized service. The thoughtfully designed menu includes dishes specifically tailored for every kind of New Yorker — from gluten-free, low-fat, and vegan options to one-of-a-kind dishes for foodies that love to experiment.
City Beet Kitchens caters to a wide variety of events in and around New York City, preparing continental breakfasts and lunches for office meetings and gourmet dinners for intimate gatherings, as well as catering for parties, cocktail receptions, and weddings.
Project Renewal’s Culinary Arts Training Program (CATP) places graduates in jobs at twice the rate of similar programs nationwide. “I fell in love with the program — it helped me a lot,” said Jamel Woods, a CATP graduate and Sous-Chef at City Beet Kitchens. “This job keeps my head straight; it keeps me focused and off the streets. I love being here. It gave me a whole new set of goals.”
Project Renewal’s social purpose catering company was previously named Comfort Foods. Since 1997, Comfort Foods prepared meals for New York City nonprofit institutions and catered to private parties, office meetings and corporate events for clients such as Capital One and Morgan Stanley.
“Capital One has enjoyed catering from Project Renewal for volunteer projects, boardroom meetings and associate events,” said Jessa Thomas, Community Affairs, Capital One. “Our associates believe in the mission of Project Renewal, and City Beet Kitchens is a true testament of life changing opportunity. All that aside, the food speaks for itself and always receives rave reviews.”
For more information about City Beet Kitchens, visit www.citybeetkitchens.org and follow @CityBeetNYC on Twitter. To learn about Project Renewal’s Culinary Arts Training Program, visit www.projectrenewal.org/catp.
About Project Renewal
Project Renewal is a New York City-based nonprofit organization that works to end the cycle of homelessness by empowering men, women and children to renew their lives with health, homes and jobs. Project Renewal’s innovative programs are designed to end the revolving door of emergency rooms, jails, shelters and the streets. For 50 years, Project Renewal’s pioneering approach has created uniquely integrated and comprehensive programs that are replicated around the nation, helping even beyond the 16,000 homeless New Yorkers Project Renewal serves every year. For more information, visit www.projectrenewal.org