Contact: Alicia L. Ford (703) 305-2286
alicia.ford@fns.usda.gov 

USDA FUNDS $370,000 GRANT IN WELFARE TO WORK EFFORT

WASHINGTON, March, 3, 2000 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture will present a $370,000 check today to the American School Food Service Association to develop a program to help food stamp recipients and low-income heads of households develop skills for employment in school food service or other food service industries. The grant was previously announced by Mrs. Tipper Gore on February 14, to the ASFSA annual legislative conference.

USDA is funding the $370,000 grant to help school cafeterias and community kitchens develop training programs to help people making the transition from welfare to work. ASFSA President Phyllis Griffith will accept the check at a ceremony at the D.C. Central Kitchen, 425 2nd Street N.W. The grant, called the School Cafeterias as Community Kitchens Project, results from a joint effort by USDA, ASFSA’s sister organization the School Food Service Foundation, and the D.C. Central Kitchen.

“This unique welfare-to-work grant will be funded for a two-year period, with the creative goal of providing eligible applicants with the skills and the dedication that will keep them in the workforce and in food service,” said Shirley Watkins, USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services.

“We are thrilled to receive support to implement this program,” said Griffith. “In the process of preparing food for those who need it, participants are also trained in valuable skills for the food service industry.”

ASFSA will promote the community kitchen concept on a voluntary basis among its membership of about 60,000 professionals who manage and prepare meals in schools throughout the country.

“School-based community kitchens will also serve as a means of motivating communities to help in ending hunger,” said Watkins.