July 11, 2023

101 teenagers discover culinary career top tips

Care in Action’s STEP program provides life skills coaching and career guidance for vulnerable youth in Ukraine. As part of this program in 2023, our STEP team has enabled 101 young people—from children’s homes, from foster families, and from families internally displaced by the war— to attend five, two-day STEP training camps entitled “Aesthetics in Cooking” focused on the culinary industry.

The two-day programs included lectures at the Lviv Higher Vocational School of Food Industry, where participants learned about professional opportunities as chefs, bakers, waiters and bartenders, as well as some of the manners and culture of hospitality. Lessons included the basics of food preparation, food storage, as well as plating and serving food. They had a tour of the Bread Museum and discovered future opportunities to study at the vocational school. 

"The masterclass at the restaurant was perfect! I didn't think cooking could be so interesting. It brought us very close and gave us the opportunity to make new friends. The lecturers were on top of their game and inspired us with their energy!"

Participants had hands-on, practical cooking lessons in a professional kitchen, including proper knife skills taught by Volodymyr Boyar, founder of the First Culinary Courses. Attendees learned to make carbonara pasta, tuna salad, bruschetta and truffle cream soup which they of course enjoyed eating afterwards.

The program also included a delicious visit to the Celentano on the Market Pizzeria, where the participants learned some pizza making secrets as well as insights into the catering profession and pizzeria business. A summer internship was offered for those who are interested in becoming a chef. We are delighted that Maksym, one of the participants, already took advantage of this opportunity and completed a several-day internship at the restaurant in June.

To keep the learning fun and engaging, the attendees also participated in quests and played games. The young people enjoyed the friendly atmosphere of these two-day programs and benefited from the social interaction, essential components of our STEP programs.

The training wasn’t exclusively culinary. Anastasia Pryshiyak, founder of the creative agency “Tvory” also taught participants acting and public speaking. These skills will come in handy during interviews or for presentations of their own entrepreneurial projects.

We would like to thank all of the Care in Action donors who make our work possible, together with 3x Capital and Ivan Herasymenko who donated towards the five camps. The need for career development support was raised in a survey of 20,000 young Ukrainians, by Make.org, and we are glad that together we can invest in their future.

This could be the start of a new career for participants, with Maksym opening a pizzeria, Zoryana becoming a famous baker or Vadym cooking the most delicious carbonara in Lviv. Our STEP team will keep working to enable young people to gain skills for independent life and successful careers.

Thank you for investing in career development for young people!

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