Mar 16, 2018

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan grant helps staff Zaman’s new Culinary Arts Kitchen

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan recently awarded Zaman International a $65,000 grant to help staff the organization’s new Culinary Arts Kitchen, a state-of-the-art food preparation and training space that will address community needs for education, workforce development, and community engagement.

Planned, constructed and partially equipped through the generosity of individual and business donors under the direction of New Yasmeen Bakery owner and longtime Zaman supporter Hussein Siblini, the Culinary Arts Kitchen enjoyed a grand opening on Dec. 4 and launched a range of programming in January. Specifically, the kitchen is offering a no-cost Culinary Arts Training Program to give clients job-ready skills and fee-based cooking classes for children, adults and corporations. Revenue from the classes, and from food products the kitchen will develop and sell, will support kitchen operations and the cost of training clients free of charge.

The Community Foundation grant will help cover the cost of Culinary Arts Kitchen salaries during its first year of operation.  Zaman’s head chefs are Amanda Saab, a popular food blogger and former contestant on Fox TV’s “MasterChef,” and Daniela Mancinelli Abel, a culinary instructor with extensive curriculum development and public speaking experience. Saab and Abel are assisted by sous chef Adriana Mancinelli Kalota, a graduate of Schoolcraft College’s Culinary Arts Program, and by case workers who coordinate services for clients in the vocational training program.

This is the second grant that the Community Foundation has awarded Zaman to support workforce development among vulnerable women in Greater Detroit, noted Najah Bazzy, Zaman CEO and founder.

“The Community Foundation’s support for our Literacy and Sewing Programs in 2016 was invaluable to the success of those initiatives, which have provided thousands of hours of free instruction since their launch and are now attracting state and federal funding on the strength of their results,” Bazzy said. “We are grateful for the Community Foundation’s investment in our kitchen and thrilled to be strengthening a relationship rooted in a mutual desire to see all residents of our region thrive.”