Homeless Helping Homeless In HELP USA Thanksgiving Dinner

In the true spirit of giving, homeless residents at the HELP USA shelter on Wards Island in the Bronx will be cooking and serving Thanksgiving dinner for over 200 fellow homeless residents this holiday.

The dozen chefs-in-training are all currently homeless, living in the HELP SEC shelter, and are enrolled in a nine-week Culinary Arts Training program at HELP USA's Ward's Island site. They take daily classes from an inspiring instructor, Chef Daniel MacGuire.

Chef Daniel is a former corporate executive chef with Marriott Hotels who now teaches the homeless residents culinary and life skills to help them succeed in and out of the kitchen. Several students have been placed in restaurants around NYC, and two recent graduates are working as sous-chefs to Chef Daniel in the HELP kitchen at the very shelter where they used to live.

The Culinary Arts Training program is one of several training programs HELP USA offers to its homeless residents in an effort to help them develop skills that will lead to rapid employment and permanent housing placement. HELP USA is a leading national nonprofit providing shelter, jobs, and services to the homeless, by empowering them to become and remain self-reliant.

For more information, visit www.helpusa.org.