Second Helpings receives $10,000 grant to boost culinary training program

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Second Helpings, a community kitchen in Indianapolis, has been awarded a $10,000 grant by the Jacques Pépin Foundation as part of their Summer 2025 Grant Awards.

The grant will support Second Helpings’ efforts to provide a free, 7-week culinary training program for unemployed and underemployed adults, helping them launch careers in the food service industry.

“Thanks to a generous grant from the Jacques Pépin Foundation, more students will have the chance to gain the life and career skills they need to thrive,” Chef Kyle Burnett, culinary job training manager at Second Helpings, said in a release.

“The JPF’s mission is realized in part by supporting programs that create opportunities through culinary training,” Rollie Wesen, executive Director of the JPF, said in a release.

Second Helpings says it will use the grant to “address shortfalls caused by a pause and uncertainty in two federal grants that help cover essential program costs” such as staff salaries and equipment. In addition to the financial grant, Second Helpings will receive JPF branded aprons for their students and a group membership to the Foundation.

Founded in 2016, the Jacques Pépin Foundation has given over $1.8 million to more than 80 non-profit culinary arts training programs across the nation.

Second Helpings’ program rescues over 325,000 pounds of food each month, transforming it into more than 5,500 meals daily while training over 1,000 adults to date. On Friday, Second Helpings celebrated the graduation of Culinary Job Training Class 168.

Click here to learn more about Second Helpings.

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