Vetri Foundation for Children Tranforms School Lunches in North Philly

May 14, 2012 - PRLog -- To celebrate the launch of piloting the Vetri “Eatiquette” program at Community Partnership School, 85 students will be eating family style at 11:45 am on Thursday, May 17th in the community auditorium of the Honickman Learning Center / Comcast Technology Labs, where the school leases space from Project H.O.M.E.  Marc Vetri, Jeff Benjamin and Jeff Michaud, owners of the critically-acclaimed Vetri Restaurants will be there to celebrate the weekly pilot that has been successfully launched at several schools, including Community Partnership School.  

Vetri owners dream of a world where all kids each fresh school lunches every day, and created the Vetri Foundation for Children to bring this dream to life.  For the 85 African-American students from low-income, low-wealth backgrounds who attend Community Partnership School in North Philadelphia, “the Vetri Eatiquette program bolsters efforts at fostering community while teaching our students proper table etiquette,” says Eric Jones, Head of School.  Begun in March, these weekly lunches are reimbursed through the federal School Lunch Program managed for the school by the Archdiocese’s Nutrition Services.  

“On Thursday May 17th, we are celebrating the progress we’ve made in moving forward with getting children freshly-made meals through the School Lunch Program,” says Kelly Herrenkohl, Director of Marketing and Development of the Vetri Foundation for Children.  “The Archdiocese of Philadelphia was very excited to partner with us to make this happen for Community Partnership School.”

Founded in 2006, Community Partnership School provides a high-quality independent school education to children from low-income backgrounds. The school is the result of synergy between Germantown Academy, the nation’s oldest non-sectarian day school, and Project H.O.M.E., a nationally-recognized social service organization in Philadelphia.  As the school moves into its sixth year of operation, it seeks new partnerships to expand its innovative model that has proven to be highly effective.  The first alumni, who completed five years of an academic and character-building curriculum in 2011, have successfully transitioned to top schools such as William Penn Charter, Norwood-Fontbonne Academy, KIPP Charter, and Springside Schools.