Caribbean Students Selected for 2015 Culinary Internships at Facebook and Sam Choy’s Hawaii
St. Croix Foundation Announces Internship Fund to Support Educational Opportunities
St. Croix, US Virgin Islands – August 2014 – The St. Croix Foundation, a nationally recognized, award-winning community non-profit in the US Virgin Islands, announced today that Tony Castellucci and Dean Spinks, the Executive Chefs at Facebook, have selected two students for the 2015 culinary internships at the corporate campus of Facebook. This is the second internship that the Facebook culinary team has coordinated as a result of their participation in St. Croix Food & Wine Experience, the major fundraiser for the St. Croix Foundation. After spending two weeks at Facebook, the interns will spend a week learning from James Beard winner Chef Sam Choy at his restaurant in Hawaii. The St. Croix Foundation has started an Internship Fund in order to support current and future internships. To donate to the new internship fund, please contact The St. Croix Foundation at 340-773-9898 or asimpson@stxfoundation.org.
“These internships are life-changing opportunities for our youth,” said Roger Dewey, President of the St. Croix Foundation, “The first two St. Croix students who participated in a culinary internship at Facebook are now contract employees there. Our goal with the internship fund is to ensure that students are able to participate in all kinds of internships, from culinary to computer programming, at companies all over the world.”
The culinary internships provide students with on-the-job training starting in February 2015 with a two-week program at the corporate campus of Facebook in Menlo Park, California, followed by a one-week internship in Hawaii with Chef Sam Choy, winner of the James Beard award, cookbook author, ambassador and event chef to Bruno Mars.
The students were selected based on the chef’s experience working with them during the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience. During this event, culinary students from the St. Croix Educational Complex, a career and technical public school in the US Virgin Islands, are able to assist visiting chefs as they prepare and participate in the events of the week. Chef Tony Castellucci, Chef Sam Choy, Chef Dean Spinks will teach again when they participate in 2015 St. Croix Food & Wine Experience, to be held April 12-18. For details, visit www.stcroixfoodandwine.com.
The St. Croix Foundation created the Internship Fund to support these and future internships. For more than 23 years, the St. Croix Foundation has been nationally and locally recognized for its accomplishments education reform, public health and safety and community and economic development. For more information or to make a donation, please contact The St. Croix Foundation at 340-773-9898 or email Arlene Simpson at asimpson@stxfoundation.org.
About the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience
The St. Croix Food & Wine Experience, named one of the Ten Best International Food and Wine Festivals by Forbes Travel, showcases the diverse cuisine and wine available on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. The multi-day event includes gourmet dinners, wine seminars, wine auctions, and the annual culinary competition, A Taste of St. Croix. Started in 2001 by restaurant owners Katherine Pugliese and Kelly Odom, the event is recognized as the pre-eminent food and wine event in the Caribbean. The event benefits the St. Croix Foundation (www.stxfoundation.org), a non-profit community foundation that serves the entire US Virgin Islands in the areas of education, historic preservation, public safety, community and economic development. To date, the events have raised more than $1.4 million dollars. For a detailed list of events and to purchase tickets to additional events, visit www.stcroixfoodandwine.com.