This year, Inspiration Corporation was honored to be chosen as the benefiting charity for First Bites Bash at Union Station, presented by Choose Chicago. First Bites Bash is the official kickoff event to Chicago Restaurant Week. We were chosen as the charity partner by restaurateur and sommelier Alpana Singh. Alpana had first been impressed by Inspiration Corporation after Inspiration Kitchens was featured on Check Please!. Alpana is the former host of Check Please! She was so thrilled not only with the mission of Inspiration Kitchens that she kept us in mind for future opportunities like this one. Inspiration Corporation was an ideal match for First Bites, with our focus on providing high quality food in a restaurant setting to our participants as well as culinary job skill training in the Foodservice Training program.
Inspiration Corporation staff was at theevent to spread information about programming, volunteer opportunities, and events. Representatives from selected participating Restaurant Week restaurants were on-hand offering delicious hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and drinks. We were graciously introduced by NBC 5 News anchors, Rob Stafford and Allison Rosati. At Union Station, we unexpectedly met up with Inspiration Kitchens graduate Will, who was working at the event for a catering company. Will joined us on stage, where we gratefully accepted a check for $10,000 from CEO Don Welsh and host Alpana Singh, on behalf of Choose Chicago.We had a blast at First Bites bash and we can’t wait to put these funds to good use helping Chicago’s homeless and vulnerable. Stay tuned for more updates on Inspiration Corporation partnerships and have a happy Restaurant Week!