CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT FOUNDATION INC

The California Restaurant Foundation changes lives through restaurants. Our three pillars are ProStart youth workforce development, scholarships, and the Restaurants Care relief fund. These pillars work together to provide stability and economic mobility to those at the heart of restaurants.

ProStart – ProStart, a culinary arts and restaurant entrepreneurship program in public high schools, empowers thousands of teens each year to be college-bound and career-ready. CA ProStart aims to provide teens with brighter futures.

Scholarships – Our robust merit-based scholarship program opens doors to college to promising students, many the first in the families to go to college. A college degree is the single most important factor to disrupting generational poverty, creating stability, and creating sustained change. Our scholarship program aims to create a new generation of leaders for California’s restaurant industry while creating brighter futures for students.

Restaurants Care – Restaurants Care is a direct relief to restaurant workers when life gets tough. Our goal is to provide a safety-net, stability, and a network of care for cooks, servers, dishwashers and more facing an unforeseen hardship.

The California Restaurant Foundation is a lean, innovative, and collaborative organization. We have a network of volunteers, corporate partners, small donors, community partners, and more that bring our mission to life through year-round services, grants, events, and trainings.

RESTAURANTS CARE STRATEGIES – offering hope and stability to California’s restaurant workers
•Relief fund. The Restaurants Care relief fund provides direct grants to restaurant workers to cover basic living expenses such as rent, groceries, and transportation as an individual navigates a crisis.
•Mental health resources. Restaurants Care works with community partners and health professionals on mental health webinars, workshops, and referrals for restaurant workers.
•Referral network. Restaurants Care manages a referral network for struggling restaurant workers. Resources include assistance for food, utilities, housing, medical, mental health, and more.

PROSTART STRATEGIES – empowering teens to be college-bound and career ready
•Professional development for educators. We empower teachers with training and resources to keep their classes aligned with industry. Regional workshops, virtual meetings, and multi-day conferences are hosted year-round.
•School grants. CRF provides grants to public schools to be used on uniforms, kitchen equipment, field trips, certifications, and more.
•FIT job-readiness training. We pair restaurant employers with a local high school to lead a training on resume writing, career mapping, and leadership.
•CA ProStart Cup. A culinary arts and restaurant entrepreneurship competition for teens statewide. Prizes for this rigorous competition include scholarships.
•Experience Hospitality. A leadership summit for ProStart students hosted in partnership with the California State University and the California Community College systems. The day features college access programming, tours of hospitality venues, and a networking lunch with restaurant leaders.
•Career Services for Life. ProStart students have access to trained volunteers who can assist with resume-refresh, mock interviews, and career mapping.

SCHOLARSHIP STRATEGIES – creating a new generation of restaurant leaders
•CRF manages a portfolio of endowments that power our annual scholarship fund.
•CRF partners with other organizations and corporations on white-label scholarship funds.
•CRF works with our higher education partners to promote scholarship opportunities to a diverse student population earning a credited two-and-four-year degrees.

We know restaurants. Since 1981, the California Restaurant Foundation has been investing in our restaurant workforce. We have a statewide network of restaurant operators, suppliers, philanthropists, educators, community partners, volunteers and our board of directors. At all times, our focus is on impact and efficiency. We are able to punch above our weight by leveraging our community’s talents and resources.

Our funding sources are diversified and growing. Our programs are powered by corporate partnerships, individual donors, fundraising events, philanthropic grants and cause-marketing campaigns.

Since 1981, we’ve changed thousands of lives for the better. We’ve opened doors to college for over 1,000 people – providing sustained economic mobility and resilience. Each year we provide job training to over 13,000 teens. For 75% of these students, ProStart is the only job training they receive in high school. Since 2017, we’ve given hope and stability to over 1,600 restaurant workers facing natural disasters, illness, a pandemic, and loss. Together these programs have created a stronger, more supported restaurant workforce in California.

Our organization is growing quickly. The Covid-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the Restaurants Care relief fund, and we foresee that program expanding to meet the incredible need facing our community. CA ProStart has adapted to distance and hybrid learning. We are innovating to keep students engaged in learning and connect to the restaurant industry through virtual tours, guest speakers, and trainings. The scholarship fund is also growing substantially each year thanks in large part to corporate partners investing in education for their crews. Our goal is to be the preeminent nonprofit for California’s restaurant community. Join us!