Update letter sent to subscribers on 27 October 2019

27 October 2019

Dear All …

I am delighted to tell you we have our first employer and will be looking to formally start our program maybe as soon as next March. We are in the midst of student selection that meets with our vision and mission statements.

Just a quick recap as to some of what has transpired …

1.  We raised enough to train 4 students so far

2.  Our committee has had numerous meetings going over the direction of the project, exploring the ideas of finding a place to reconstruct/renovate for a training center, and the many tasks involved to support the project, etc. Together with the dramatic downturn in the local economy we felt we had to change our thinking and plan of action.

3.  We’ve met and consulted with other knowledgeable people in the culinary field and obtained some great feedback

4.  Prepared a syllabus for 2 courses, beginner and advanced

5.  Prepared a Employer-Student agreement

6.  Prepared both Employer & Student assessment forms

7.  We finalized and launched our website www.onechefatatime.org

During the past few months we have all been working hard to achieve our goal of training students to a level appropriate for gainful and full time employment. Although at first this seemed like a relatively simple task it proved to be a longer journey than we felt required or doable.

After focusing on local laws and to satisfy our fundraising needs we realized this project could actually take too long to get started and as such we looked at alternative ways of achieving the same goals but with different approaches.

We were greeted enthusiastically by a couple of industry leaders in Chiang Mai where we discussed the suggested syllabus and methods of teaching. As a result we have made a decision that we feel will be better for the student to train in an existing facility rather than provide the facility ourselves.  Obviously this reduces the costs considerably but necessitated the need for a detailed agreement with the student and potential trainer/employer to complete the syllabus and to help ensure the safety of the student.

We have recently teamed up with a local foundation to provide the students interested in the culinary field of work. With the current funds raised we can most likely support 3 students, approximately Bt 30,000 each and hopefully, with continued support, we’ll be able to increase this number. We envisage individual sponsorship of students as well as smaller donations as a way to achieve our goal.

Once again it’s time to thank all involved for your patient and generous time and donations which have led to us getting to this stage of the project.

When the official start date of the first student is confirmed I will contact you again. We will have a celebration meeting in Chiang Mai to which you will be invited. The student and employer will both be present (all things being equal!) so you can see what you have actually achieved. In the meantime please chat with friends to help raise awareness

You can contact us any time on +66(0)861117766

or at info@onechefatatime.org

Thank you again

Until the next time!

Brian Pern