Today we’d like to introduce you to Chuck Samuelson.
Chuck, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Northeast Montana. I am one of nine children raised by a single mother. I’ve spent my life in the Hospitality industry. I started as a dishwasher at 13 and worked my way up through kitchens to become an Executive Chef in my 20’s. My career allowed me to travel from my hometown throughout the western United States, Canada, and Hawaii.
I moved from Hawaii in the late ’80s to San Diego to work with friends at Jake’s Del Mar where I quickly became the Executive Chef. I left there some years later to start my own restaurants. I was the Chef/Owner of the award-winning Bird Rock Cafe, Torrey Pines Cafe, and both Cuvee, Wine Country Cuisine restaurants. After I sold my last restaurant, I had a Catering Company and did Hospitality Consulting for years.
My last position was with Stone Brewing Company as Senior Manager for Food Services. I left Stone in March of 2013 to found Kitchens For Good.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Easy would not be the first word I would use. Interesting, maybe. I have overcome many personal struggles to get here, as many have. I am a high school dropout and a child of abuse and addiction. My mother is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. As a result of my childhood, I have struggled with drug addiction and depression my entire life. I got clean in the late ’80s, but there were many more years of personal work and growth needed to get to the place where I would be able to give back. My life truly changed with the birth of my son in 1997. It changed my world view and the way I wanted to live my life. I wanted to show how a life truly well lived could be as an example to my son.
I have always volunteered in other nonprofits and have always wanted to make a difference. We should all strive to leave the world a better place than we found it.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Kitchens For Good story. Tell us more about the business.
KFG was founded to end hunger in San Diego by taken perfectly good food destined for the landfill to make meals for the food insecure. Before we ever started operations, it became abundantly clear that no amount of meals could end hunger and to truly address hunger we would need to address poverty. The sad truth is that hunger is just one of many symptoms of poverty. At that point, we decided that Job Training, particularly Culinary Job Training would be at the core of how we would address hunger and poverty.
In late 2103, my Co-founder, Aviva Paley, joined me and a little over a year later our CEO, Jennifer Gilmore came on board. We got our first kitchen in September 2015 which makes us just over 4 years old. In that time, we have grown from an initial annual budget of $25,000 to our current budget of $5.6M. We have graduated over 250 students from our program who are successfully cooking (and running) in the best kitchens in SD. At the same time, we have repurposed thousands of tons of perfectly good food destined for the landfill into healthy, delicious meals for the hungry in SD.
Unlike your typical Nonprofit, we earn 60% of our annual operating budget through our Social Enterprise businesses. We do over 500 events per year in our Catering/Events Company and operate the Food & Beverage Concessions at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista, as well as providing contract meal services for a Senior Center and for after school feeding programs. Next year, we will start a Bakery Training Apprenticeship program to compliment our Culinary program and will also begin a Hospitality Management Training program while expanding from our current 3 kitchens to 5.
But there have also been the struggles common to any small business startup. In the early days of KFG, we found it extremely challenging to get business credit lines or access to capital. We survived and are now thriving. Those were some lean early days and our success is due to this amazing team and their dedication to what we all believe we can accomplish
Our total focus as an organization is to provide job training and life skills so that our graduates can get jobs in kitchens. We are known for the quality of employees that our graduates become. We have more demand for our graduates than we can currently provide. Our students spend 12 weeks with us learning knife skills in the kitchen and life skills in the classroom. Those life skills are critical to the success of our graduates.
Our students come primarily from the prison system and from foster care.
I am most proud of the hard work that our students do every day to be successful. Working in a kitchen is hard. It’s hot and dangerous. The hours are long and you end up working every holiday while your friends and family celebrate. It is not like the celebrity chef shows. But it is a first step on the path to economic independence and freedom.
The recidivism rate in California is 73%. Most felons end up back in prison. Our recidivism rate is <5%. What we are doing works.
I also am constantly in awe of this amazing team that have come together to do this. I am so grateful to have been on this journey with them.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Next time around I will pick better parents… kidding.
Years ago, the city tore up the street in front of my La Jolla restaurant for three years and caused me and many of my fellow small business owners in our neighborhood to fail. That humbling experience changed me forever. It would have been so easy to be a victum and focus on the bad luck, but from then on I never again took anything for granted. I paid more attention to the things that matter… family, friendship, and life experiences over material possessions. In many ways, the attention I paid from then on to relationships provided the network that enabled me to start Kitchens For Good. My personal view of luck is that it happens when preparation meets opportunity. We can make our own luck.
Contact Info:
- Address: Kitchens For Good
Main Kitchen, Culinary School, & Event Center
404 Euclid Ave
San Diego, CA 92114 - Website: www.kitchensforgood.org
- Phone: 619-450-4040
- Email: info@kitchensforgood.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitchensforgood/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kitchensforgood/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KitchensForGood
- Other: https://www.moonlightstage.com/plan-your-visit/luna-cafe
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
