Over $2,500,000 in Scholarships to Be Awarded
High school culinary students have two challenges. Their first challenge is to prepare a two-course French dinner—Sûpreme Poulet Chasseur avec Pommes Château and Crêpes Sucrées with Crème Pâtissière and Sauce au Chocolat from memory in just two hours. Their second challenge is to present two perfect plates of each to a panel of judges, including some of the industry’s top chefs.
This isn’t Top Chef or Chopped. It’s the final round of the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) 2017 Cooking Competitions for Scholarships. Students enrolled in C-CAP programs across the country, hoping to forge careers in the food service industry, will be wielding knives and sauté pans as they work their way through heated competitions attempting to earn a portion of the over $2,500,000 in culinary school scholarships offered by C-CAP.
“C-CAP plans to award scholarships to approximately 200 underserved youth who are interested in pursuing careers in the restaurant and food service industry,” says C-CAP President Karen Brosius. “Finalists will have an opportunity to win scholarships ranging from $1,000 to over $110,000 to pursue a culinary education in college. For more than 27 years, we have been breaking the cycle of poverty for hundreds of qualified students across the country. We continue to manage the largest independent scholarship program and have awarded over $50 million in scholarships.”
Beginning in February and concluding in May, C-CAP will sponsor cooking competitions and will present the students and their teachers with scholarships at awards ceremonies. The awards ceremonies will be held following the competitions in New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; Hampton Roads, Virginia; Washington, D.C., and Phoenix.
Students will be judged on organization, sanitation, work flow and timing, cooking techniques and skills, taste, and presentation as they each prepare the same set menu. The competitors will be chosen based on their academic records, a personal essay, and their desire to pursue post-secondary education and to forge careers in the food service industry.
The 2017 awards include full- and partial-tuition scholarships to premier local culinary colleges, community colleges, and to some of the most prestigious culinary schools in the country. Students will also receive cash awards to help defray the costs of books, supplies, housing, and other expenses while at college. In addition, C-CAP Alumni will be awarded cultural exchange scholarships to go abroad and scholarships to continue their education at a four-year culinary college here in America.
According to C-CAP Founder Richard Grausman: “Students now more than ever need all the help they can possibly get financing their college education. Given the shifts in financial aid and college standardized testing this year, C-CAP staff have been working hard to stay abreast of the changes and communicate them to students, parents, and teachers while providing a high level of support.”
2017 C-CAP Cooking Competitions for Scholarships locations are:
Hampton Roads, Virginia
Phoenix, Arizona
Chicago, Illinois
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
New York, New York
Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles, California
“C-CAP has an incredible system in place that, through education and training, prepares underserved youth for careers in the culinary and hospitality industries. The program is also of great benefit to chefs in our industry who are constantly looking for skilled and motivated employees,” says Marcus Samuelsson, C-CAP Board Co-Chair.
Since being founded by Richard Grausman in 1990, the organization has awarded over $50 million in scholarships, provided job training and internships, college and lifetime career support, teacher training and product and equipment donations to classrooms across the country. C-CAP works with over 17,000 students nationwide each year. Through C-CAP’s efforts, a large number of its students find rewarding careers in the food service and hospitality industry. Many alumni, now graduates of top culinary schools, are working in leading restaurants and hotels throughout the country.
For the fourth year in a row, C-CAP received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the highest rating from the nation’s largest evaluator of charities. For more information, visit the website at www.ccapinc.org, Instagram at @ccapinc, Twitter at @ccapinc, and Facebook at CCAPinc Facebook.
