A
ndrew Briggs, apprentice cook and catering
coordinator at Rebekah Children’s Services in
Gilroy, recently turned 20, yet he speaks with the
maturity of a much older man.
“I realized that I needed to be there for the members
of our team and the youth that we’re serving,” Briggs said.
“I realized that part of the program’s success was going to
rely on being accountable to myself and the members of
our team.”
Rebekah Children’s Services (RCS), was started in Gilroy
in 1897 as a part of the International Order of Odd Fellows
(IOOF) Orphanage. RCS, with locations in Gilroy, Campbell,
and Salinas, is the last operating Odd Fellows Children’s
Home in the nation. In addition to adoption and foster care
services, RCS offers programs to disadvantaged youths and
their families to serve their health care, education readiness,
outpatient mental health, health and nutrition guidance, and
other needs.
In 2009, RCS started the Culinary Academy to pre-
pare disadvantaged youth (ages 15-25) for careers in the
hospitality industry. The 10-week, 60-hour program teaches
all aspects of the culinary arts under the direction of its
Program Manager and award-winning Chef, Carlos Pineda.
“Our goal is to teach the youth how to cope with any of
the barriers that they are dealing with and position them
to become self-sufficient adults,” Pineda said. Briggs as-
sists Pineda, helping teach knife and cooking skills while
supporting and guiding the youth in the program.
“As early as I can remember,” Briggs said, “l always
wanted to cook. I don’t know where that came from. I think
it was something about the way food brings people together.”
Between the ages of 7 and 17, he took every cooking class
he could, including courses at the Gilroy High School culi-
nary program. When he was fifteen, he met Pineda, who had
substituted for another teacher at Gilroy High. With Pineda’s
encouragement, Briggs enrolled in and later graduated from
the RCS Culinary Academy, staying on as an apprentice for
the last three and a half years.
Briggs left at one point to work in a high-end restaurant.
“I thought I had exhausted what I could do at the academy,
but working in a restaurant didn’t feel nearly as rewarding
as at Rebekah’s because you don’t feel that what you’re doing
has much purpose. I left the restaurant because I wanted to
still like cooking.”
The Culinary Academy created their Catering Coordinator
position for Briggs. As Catering Coordinator, he deals with
clients, draws up contracts, orders the food and supplies, and
organizes delivery and setup. Pineda said, “Andrew carries
himself with great poise and a positive attitude. He has taken
Kneaded, our social enterprise bakery and catering company,
to the next level. One hundred per cent of the funds raised
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
by Kneaded go back into the Culinary Academy to help
partially fund the program. It costs $1,600 per student, at no
cost to them. The Academy has no steady stream of funding.”
Youth who enter the program often are dealing with low
income, drug or alcohol abuse, domestic violence, human
trafficking, or mental health issues. They come to the
Culinary Academy to learn cooking skills, for something to
do, to avoid a bad home situation, for high school credits,
to add to their résumé, or to receive their only guaranteed
meal that day. Entry to the program is by referral: from self-
referral, school counselors, or public outreach. Applications
are available online at www.rcskids.org.
Working at RCS, Briggs said, “I feel more comfortable
representing myself. Especially because that’s what the job
requires with these students: you have to be compassionate,
friendly, a mentor, and connect with them, at all times. We
really feel like we’re making a difference to the kids that
we serve. We teach job skills, culinary skills, and life skills
through food: Students learn teamwork, people skills,
hygiene, discipline, and accountability: guiding principles
they can use in all aspects of their lives.
We have an obligation to the students, who need to come
before anything else. We need to find comfort in knowing
that what we’re doing for the company to reach people is so
important that we don’t need individual recognition for it,”
Briggs said. His demeanor was one of conviction and humility.
Briggs was drawn to cooking because food brings people
together. With his help at the RCS Culinary Academy, food
not only brings people together, it also changes lives.
The Culinary Academy welcomes restaurants willing
to work with them. Applications to the Culinary Academy,
donations, and information about volunteering can be found
at rcskids.org
FALL/HOLIDAY 2019
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