Brooklyn's Progress
January 2002

Special Catering Provided by Teens in its Culinary Arts Program Merrymaking and celebration were on the menu at Project Reach Youth’s (PRY) second DecemberFest event on December 14. The event featured a holiday menu designed and prepared by teenagers in Project Venture, PRY’s culinary arts program. Wine was provided by Darrin Siegfried, co-owner of Red White and Bubbly, a Park Slope-based wine store. The event was be hosted at the show home of John and Corey Fowler in Park Slope. “DecemberFest is the quintessential eat, drink and be merry event,” commented Robert Madison, Executive Director at PRY. At DecemberFest, A. Mark Gibbel, President of the Board of Directors at PRY and PRY staff discussed the agency’s upcoming plans for 2002. Monies raised at the event will support PRY’s innovative programs. PRY is a community-based organization, founded in 1968, that provides education, counseling, and youth development programs to more than 7,000 children, teens, and adult family members in Brooklyn. Project Venture, the culinary arts program, prepares teens for careers in the food industry through hands-on instruction of food preparation and cooking at its test kitchen in Park Slope. “The teens learn everything about working in a kitchen, working as a team, how to safely handle food, even entrepreneurial skills,” says Health Services Director Liz Schnee. “We truly cover everything from soup to nuts!” The menu for the event included Wild Mushroom Filo Purses and Red Snapper Cakes with a Lime Remoulade. The students conceived of the menu, studied recipes in anticipation of preparing and serving the event’s food. The DecemberFest invitation highlighted the talents of another PRY teen, Shirley Mejia. Mejia, an eighth-grader, participates in PRY’s journalism program, Project Express, in which the teens study desktop publishing and produce four literary journals each year. For the invitation, Mejia wrote this poem: White snow Dark sky, Children playing, carols singing Dead silence, live thoughts People inside homes counting down, ready for a new year A new season will approach; Winter will be over So let’s celebrate the good winter times now And forget any cheerless time Through creative, comprehensive programs, young people increase their knowledge, improve their education skills, gain respect for themselves and others, and grow toward responsible adulthood. For more information about PRY visit www.pry.org. For Immediate Release Contact: Elsa Monteiro 718-768-0778