On Monday, October 1st, at the 20th anniversary celebration of Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen, award-winning columnist and Master of Ceremonies Dan Rodricks shared with the 400-person crowd that a new internship and scholarship program has been founded in honor of Chef John Shields. The John Shields Culinary Arts Internship and Scholarship Fund will celebrate Shields’ legacy and commitment to the Baltimore community by providing an avenue for promising young adults to pursue a career in culinary or hospitality management.
The fund aims to provide a minimum of two $1,500 renewable post high-school scholarships for a 1-4 year higher education degree. It will also cover paid internships for junior or senior high school students in hopes of inspiring a passion for and career in the restaurant business. The more money raised, the more scholarships and internships can be funded in John’s name. The fund has been established at the Baltimore Community Foundation; scholarships will be administered by CollegeBound, and NAF’s Baltimore Academy of Hospitality & Culinary Arts will manage the internships.
During the 20th anniversary celebration, close to $10,000 was raised for the fund (with an aim to make that $20,000 by the end of the month). The fundraising goal for the anniversary year is $100,000 to set up a healthy endowment for the participating Baltimore City Public High School students. Interested parties may support the program by donating to The Baltimore Community Foundation with “JS Culinary Arts Fund at BCF” as the beneficiary or donating online via credit card: http://www.bcf.org/johnshields
Lauded by Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, the Washington Post, Edible DC, The Baltimore Sun, and a multi-year winner of Baltimore Magazine’s “Best of Baltimore,” Gertrude’s serves locally sourced farm-fresh food that preserves Chesapeake culinary traditions. Founded by John Shields and John Gilligan in 1998, the restaurant was on the vanguard of the farm-to-table movement and now has decades-long relationships with Maryland farms and fisheries. The fine dining atmosphere and the warm hospitality make it the perfect setting for weddings, graduations, and other life milestones. Stay in the loop by signing up to the mailing list on www.gertrudesbaltimore.com, or follow @GertrudesCK on Facebook, Instagram, and @GertrudesChesK on Twitter.
For 30 years, CollegeBound has worked exclusively in Baltimore City public schools to help students navigate the path to and through college. Founded in 1988 by Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) and the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), CollegeBound has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of Baltimore City public high school students. Over the last 30 years, CollegeBound advisors have given financial aid and college access presentations to 275,000 Baltimore City public school students, and have assisted 70,400 students in one-on-one advising sessions. Visit www.collegeboundfoundation.org.
The Baltimore Community Foundation is a private philanthropic organization created by Baltimoreans to serve the current and future needs of the Baltimore region. Representing the common interests of a diverse pool of donors who care about Baltimore, BCF uses grants, initiatives, impact investing and advocacy to address issues facing the region today, while building a civic endowment to address the needs of future generations. BCF also offers donors customized support for their individual philanthropic goals, expert assistance in learning more about the causes they care about, and the opportunity to join others with similar interests to learn and give together. Learn more at www.bcf.org.
The Academy of Hospitality & Culinary Arts is a college and career-focused program within the National Academy Foundation School of Baltimore. Located across from the Johns Hopkins Medical campus, this public school is part of the leading national career-academy model, NAF.org. Successful NAF students earn a high school diploma along with NAF Track Certification, providing preferred status by companies such as Marriott, Verizon, JP Morgan Chase, Lenovo and Capital One. In addition to the unique curriculum, NAF offers project-based learning, shadowing and paid internship experiences to help close the opportunity and skills gaps.
