Central Campus Culinary Arts Program Receives Lowe’s Grant

A $10,000 grant from Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation will provide new kitchen equipment for the Central Campus Culinary Arts program.

The brand new equipment — a six-burner range with a char broiler and two ovens, a French fryer, and under-the-counter refrigeration — will be used in the newly renovated demonstration classroom at Central Campus. The equipment will allow students to learn state-of-the-art techniques and skills in a fully-functional demonstration kitchen.

“Students will now be prepared to immediately get a job after graduation or have a tremendous advantage in post-secondary culinary arts or restaurant management,” said Elaine Wolf, Central Campus Culinary Arts instructor.

Students in Wolf’s classroom demonstrate their skills every year in SkillsUSA culinary competitions. SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization of students, teachers and industry, working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. SkillsUSA helps high school and college students enrolled in career and technical education programs to excel by teaching employability skills such as communication, problem solving and leadership in conjunction with their trade, technical and service occupations skills.

“The grant in Des Moines represents Lowe’s commitment to both education and community improvement,” said Larry D. Stone, chairman of Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. “By supporting local schools like Central Campus, we believe we are not only investing in community projects that are important to our customers and employees, but we’re also helping schools build a stronger foundation for the students who will be tomorrow’s employees, homeowners and community leaders.”

Lowe’s is a proud supporter of SkillsUSA and SkillsCanada, Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, and The Nature Conservancy, in addition to numerous non-profit organizations and programs that help communities in North America. In 2009, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $30 million to support community and education projects in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For more information, visit Lowes.com/socialresponsibility.