Not Just a Soup Kitchen…
At Project Host, we believe food insecurity can only be addressed by the whole community, and we engage the people of Greenville in every step of the process.
Our programs support one another and all focus on giving back to the wider Greenville community. Our Soup Kitchen depends on volunteers and can serve as a pipeline into our CC Pearce Culinary School. Our culinary students prepare meals for the Cooking for Kids program and have the opportunity to intern and work in our Bakery and on our HostMobile food truck. These social enterprises, in turn, invite the Greenville community to eat, drink, and be merry, all while giving back to Project Host. Our Gardening for Good program also runs on volunteers and provides our food programs with homegrown produce to bring nutritional value to our meals.
Feeding the Hungry
Our programs include Cooking for Kids and the Soup Kitchen, where we directly serve members of the greater Greenville community who face hunger by providing them with free, easily accessible, nutrient-dense meals.
Cooking for Kids
Cooking for Kids is a partnership with local after school programs that allows Project Host to supply hot dinners to children living in food insecure households in the Greenville area.
“Project Host has helped our children become healthier and conscious of their daily eating habits. Our organization has always encouraged healthy eating and daily physical activity to reduce the childhood obesity, and Project Host has been that ‘staple’ in our program, to help us reach that goal. ”
Training & Educating
The CC Pearce Culinary School is at the heart of what we do. It provides a pathway for the un- and underemployed to financial stability, all while giving back to Project Host. Students’ training involves preparing meals for the Cooking for Kids program and working in our pay-it-forward operations.
CC Pearce Culinary School
The Culinary School is a six-week program that includes hands-on food preparation, ServSafe food safety instruction, and employment readiness lessons to prepare people for gainful employment. The program comes at no cost to the student, as it is funded through scholarships. Students develop their skills by preparing meals for Cooking for Kids and have internship and employment opportunities on the HostMobile and in the Bakery.
Read frequently asked questions, learn more about the program, and apply here.
“I feel like I’ve gone from a cook to a chef. I’ve learned how to cut properly, including basic techniques and which knives to use for which food. I’ve also learned basic, simple, new, healthy recipes that I can take and perfect. ”
Paying It Forward
Our HostMobile food truck, Bakery, and Gardening for Good programs allow our students and the wider Greenville community to focus on paying it forward. Revenue gathered through these services flows back into Project Host, which allows us to provide more free meals and stronger training programs. Our garden, run solely by volunteers, provides homegrown fruits and vegetables for all of our programs.
Hostmobile Food truck
With HostMobile, made possible by a Fluor Golf for Greenville grant, we are able to take our skills (and food!) into neighborhoods in our community. The proceeds from sales go back to supporting our programs, including using HostMobile to deliver free meals to communities in need around Greenville.
the bakery
The Project Host Bakery produces a fresh line of products for local restaurants and for individual purchase at special events, all while providing training and employment opportunities to graduates of our culinary program. The best part is, any purchases you make directly support our programs.
gardening for good
Our urban garden, made possible through a generous gift by Fluor, is entirely volunteer run and produces fruits and vegetables that are used in our Cooking for Kids program, as well as in meals prepared in our Bakery. To volunteer in the garden, send an email to info@projecthost.org.
“We are thankful for the work that Project Host is doing in our community. They are helping us feed the homeless and the working poor. The meal that Project Host provides helps our church meet a need that we could not provide by ourselves. The people who receive a meal are thankful for Project Host. This food takes the burden of providing a meal away for at least one day a week.”
