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PoShines Catering & Culinary Clinic

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Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach that Man To Fish, and You'll Feed Him for a Lifetime. 

Before getting to the Culinary School, you have to get an understanding as to who we are. The program is called Teach Me To Fish (TMTF), a Community Development Corporation, non-profit 501-C3 based out of Portland Oregon. Founded by E.D. Mondainé Jr. of Celebration Tabernacle Church, a non-denominational multiracial and multiethnic church located in Portland, OR. 

TMTF is a program that is in direct response to the growing number of underserved people that are either falling through the cracks at school or are already entangled with the juvenile court system. The goal of the program is to identify youth who are going to have a turbulent transition to adulthood (or already have) and offer a positive support system and training to avoid the pitfalls that can derail their lives. The focus is slightly different at each level but the goal remains the same; empower the underserved to make positive changes in his/her life and the world around us.  

The TMTF program is an initiative designed specifically to empower the underserved within the greater Portland area by providing guided training in the workplace, life, and culinary arts. Empowering the program participants with talent and skills that can be used in real life, not just with handouts and certificates. Graduates from the program are able to make a life for themselves, as well as learning the importance of empowering others.  

These individuals will be taught to create a 1-2 year plan as well as a 5-10 year plan. With the understanding that being employed with a marketable skill (“crises level shortage of cooks” New York Times, Oct 20, 2015) is the start of employability, not the end result. With the confidence of a job well done, the gain of social graces by interacting with people from all walks of life. Mentor input, resume building, interview skill development, as well as placement in the various venues that Po’Shines operates in currently and in the future, will help these students go on to do great things, regardless of their future career and educational paths. 

For the last 27 years, Celebration Tabernacle has launched many ventures and businesses in order to broaden its ministry into the immediate neighborhood and beyond. One of those ministries is Po’Shines Café de la Soul (hereafter known as Po’Shines), a non-profit, minority owned, restaurant with a Cajun inspired menu consisting of homemade food and pastries since 1993. The TMTF program has worked in conjunction with Po’Shines to provide on-the-job culinary training to the underserved for over 20 years, without a curriculum-based model (It's time that we change that).

Mentorship and friendship with mature adults will help aspire a more rounded person who will eventually pay it forward to others. When one plants corn in the ground, you get corn stocks with hundreds of kernels, not one kernel, and certainly not a pea. When one plants vision, goal setting, and emotional maturity, those are the in-kind results expected as well. Experiencing positive education and employment reinforces self-worth to create a person willing to reach up and become the future family, civic, business, and entrepreneurial leaders that our community will need to encourage the next generation to join them. 

In the TMTF program there are six areas of focus: 
1. Literacy / ESL
2. GED / High School Completion
3. Personal Life / Family Development
4. General Job Skills
5. Specific Job Skills in Entrepreneurial Development
6. Culinary Entrepreneurial Development  after Graduation (if desired)

Completion of each area of focus will be done in conjunction with the people’s involvement with a program or business, such as Po’Shines, the Po'Shines Catering & Culinary Clinic (School), and later expand and implement the program with other businesses around the City of Portland, and reaching further from there to State and nation-wide programs.

Currently, TMTF has primarily focused on students ages 16-22, but we'll be gladly accepting people of all ages into this 18-month culinary program should they fit the criteria. The students will work closely with a mentor/counselor, as well as other professional staff members for the entire 18 months.  

Over time, we hope that the TMTF program will become an invaluable resource to individuals, aspiring mentors and teachers, as well as the community at large.

Your support will cover many expenses that launching a program of this magnitude faces. From uniforms and materials to compensating instructors and providing students with a weekly transportation stipend.  

 Future Home of Po'Shines Catering & Culinary Clinic
- www.poshinesculinary.com- 


Snapshot - Cost: first 18 month breakdown is covering full scholarships for 10 Students ($5,000 ea) / Building Space Cost ($61,000) / Professional Salaries ($280,000) = $21,750.00 per month
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Community Awards & National Recognition Received: 

2015 Spirit of Portland Award Business:
Community Partner of the year - recognizing local individuals and organizations who have demonstrated an outstanding dedication to positive change in our community. Award winners are those who have not only worked to improve the community and have gone above and beyond a dedication to civic engagement in order to make a lasting impact. 

2015 Oregon Restaurant Lodging Association, in partnership with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF): Restaurant Neighbor Award


• 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016: Willamette Week Cheap Eats Award

• 2009 Nation's Restaurant News: Recognition for up and coming non-profit café


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•We can provide the total 30 page TMTF Program in a PDF upon request. 

• We're also coming up with great rewards and sponsorship packages for supporting this campaign and program. From swag to fully catered parties and everything in between. 

Thank you for taking the time to read and fund this campaign. 

Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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Donations 

  • Heather Tymony
    • $50 
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Antjuan Lashawn
Organizer
Portland, OR
Elbert Mondaine
Beneficiary

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