In an earlier blog post, we talked about how excited we were to be a part of the Sprouts Chef Training Program fundraising gala at Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco. We’re even more excited to share that the event raised more than $330,000 for this great program. That money will cover the cost of culinary training for 66 youth experiencing hardship.
Chef Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu's plating with Nari Dinner Plates (Photo: Jair Solano)
We wanted to follow-up with some photos of the event which featured some luminaries of the culinary world, inspiring stories of the folks who have benefited from the program, great food and drink, and of course Zungleboo plates. 
Who’s who of the culinary world: Sprouts Chef Training alum Maya Roberts, Sprouts Executive Director Kate Rogers, Sprouts Chef Training alum Katelyn Neroza, Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Dominique Crenn, Sprouts Chef Training alum Chris Hey (Photo Jair Solano)
We were thrilled to be a part of the gala and fully support the work that the Sprouts Chef Training program is doing to help youth experiencing hardship achieve stability and financial independence through life skills coaching and vocational training with restaurant internships.
The stories of those helped by the Sprouts Chef Training program are always inspirational. (Photo Kim Thompson Steel)
Perhaps event speaker and noted author Michael Pollan summed-up how we feel about Sprouts best when he said, “What’s important about cooking is that it looks in two directions. It looks to nature…and on the other side it connects us to community.” We couldn’t be more proud to be a part of the Sprouts community.
If you want to learn more about Sprout’s Chef Training Program or make a donation, check out their website.
