Young Chefs Partners with Toulmin Foundation and Girls, Inc. to Offer Culinary Scholarships

At Young Chefs Academy, our mission is to make a positive lasting impact on children and families through teaching the joy and value of cooking. As part of this mission, we actively seek partnerships with like-minded organizations. Recently, Young Chefs Academy of Sarasota exemplified this type of partnership when they teamed up with the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation and Girls Inc. of Sarasota. Both organizations are dedicated to helping girls realize their potential, along with other community-focused initiatives.

On April 7, 10 young women from Girls Inc. of Sarasota celebrated National Coffee Cake Day at Young Chefs Academy of Sarasota. This special celebration marked the official launch of 10 scholarships that will enable the girls to attend weekly culinary classes at YCA of Sarasota for the next year.

Dennis O’Sullivan, Owner of YCA of Sarasota, says it is a true honor to partner with the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation on the initiative. “Through their incredible generosity, the Foundation is providing these amazing girls with the opportunity to explore their creativity and confidence through culinary education at Young Chefs. This partnership is a meaningful step toward nurturing them as future leaders and change makers—one recipe at a time.”

Virginia B Toulmin was a notable figure in Sarasota and St. Louis, where she discovered her passion for music at the symphony and also worked as a nurse, leading to her drive to serve vulnerable communities. During her career, she rose to CEO of Central Pharmaceuticals and sat on the boards of Georgetown University, Fund for Children of Americas, and Planned Parenthood.

Founded in 1864, Girls, Inc. is the oldest organization in the U.S. and Canada dedicated to empowering girls and young women to becoming strong, confident leaders. Their programs are designed to help make participants Strong, Smart and Bold. In particular, the group’s focus on health and nutrition, leadership capabilities, and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) are perfect compliments to the curriculum at Young Chefs Academy.

The coffee cake event at YCA was proposed by On Assignment Integrity Solutions, public relations lead for the Foundation. Coffee cake was Virginia B. Toulmin’s favorite dessert, and they used a recipe passed on to Virginia by her grandmother. The event also featured a reading of an excerpt from the soon-to-be-published children’s book “Virginia B. Goes to the Symphony,” by author Kevin Pease.

A local TV news program, Suncoast View on ABC channel 7, featured a segment where Dennis showed the hosts how to make the coffee cake recipe the girls made at the event. He was joined by Bill Villafranco, Trustee for the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Initial conversations are underway to explore growing the scholarship program to reach more girls.

Have an idea for a partnership with YCA? Get in touch with us to discuss the possibilities!