Hyde Park, NY – As many as 200 students from The Culinary
Institute of America are spreading out across Hyde Park and Poughkeepsie on
Saturday morning, October 21 for the college’s first Community Outreach Day. The
students, along with about two dozen CIA staff members, will be cleaning up 20
parks and neighborhoods in the City of Poughkeepsie, and planting daffodils along
Route 9 and clearing walking trails at Hackett Hill in Hyde Park.
“We are trying to get students to become more involved in
the communities around us,” says organizer Dr. James Manley, Jr., the CIA’s
associate dean for campus life and student development. “Programs like this
help them connect with people with whom they otherwise might not interact.”
Poughkeepsie Mayor Robert Rolison will be visiting the various locations throughout the morning with words of
encouragement and appreciation as the students help beautify the city.
Dr. Manley adds that CIA students have a history of
volunteering in soup kitchens and cooking for benefit events. It was
intentional to not have this community service day be food-related.
“Our students are used to helping others by cooking,” Manley
says. “We want them to see there are other ways to help and that they can have
a positive impact beyond cooking.”
Students and staff at all three U.S. campuses of The
Culinary Institute of America are participating in the college’s Community
Outreach Day. In Texas, they are planting a community garden for San
Antonio. In California, they will be hosting a Halloween party next
weekend to support relief efforts in the wake of the Napa Valley wildfires.
Photo Caption and Hi-Res Image:
CIA students making peanut butter and
jelly sandwiches for distribution to soup kitchens and food pantries earlier
this year. On October 21, they will be performing non-food-related
community service, helping to beautify Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park. (Photo credit: CIA/Meka Harris)
View hi-res image >
Media Contact:
Jeff Levine
Communications Writer
845-451-1372
Jeff.Levine@culinary.edu
Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America is the world’s premier
culinary college. Dedicated to developing leaders in foodservice and
hospitality, the independent, not-for-profit CIA offers bachelor’s degrees in
management, culinary arts, culinary science, and applied food studies, and
associate degrees in either culinary arts or baking and pastry arts. The
college also offers executive education through its Food Business School along
with certificate programs and courses for professionals and enthusiasts. Its
conferences, leadership initiatives, and consulting services have made the CIA
the think tank of the food industry and its worldwide network of nearly 50,000
alumni includes innovators in every area of the food business. The CIA has
locations in New York, California, Texas, and Singapore.
# # #