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Serving Others with a Holiday Spirit
During the holiday season, Culinary Arts students, faculty and staff from The International Culinary School at The Art
Institute of Virginia Beach, a branch of The Art Institute of Atlanta, experienced firsthand that sometimes the most
meaningful gifts are created by giving of oneself. They volunteered their time and talents to prepare dinner for the less
fortunate at the Ann Van Vleet Winter Homeless Shelter hosted by the Foundry United Methodist Church in Virginia
Beach.
The dinner was the result of a coordinated effort among several Culinary Arts classes with assistance from staff with
serving. Chef Larry Adler’s Purchasing & Product Identification class assisted in planning the menu, and students worked
for three solid days to prepare approximately 200 pounds of food, including homemade dinner rolls, fresh fruit and cheese
trays, turkey tetrazzini, lamb stew with steamed rice, oven-roasted chicken, roasted red potatoes, sautéed vegetables and
homemade sugar cookies. Chefs Charles Vakos, Lin Old, Larry Adler and Jim Odishoo, along with Chef Director Paul
Kennedy, coordinated more than 20 students over many hours to finalize preparations for the meal. “This really was a
team effort from our school to the local community,” said Chef Kennedy.
The International Culinary School team served the dinner buffet-style to the nearly 70 guests from the Hampton Roads region who were
transported to the church by the Volunteers of America. When the line began to slow, some students transitioned from kitchen staff to
dining partners, sitting and talking with guests while they finished their dinner.
Culinary student Giselle Gonzalez summed up the evening’s experience, saying, “This was a great chance for me to give back to people
who may not be as fortunate as I am right now.”
As Chef Adler put it, “One of our goals for the evening was to ensure that our guests got to eat as much as they wanted.”