Penn State Berks students will turn Opportunity House, the Reading emergency shelter, into a five-star restaurant for its clients on the evening of Monday, October 19, 2015. Students will serve a four-course American soul food meal to Opportunity House clients, as well as an evening to remember.
Students enrolled in college?s new four-year Hospitality Management program and other students throughout the college will participate in this volunteer event coordinated by by the Penn State Berks Hotel and Restaurant Society and Berks Cares, both Penn State Berks student clubs.
The day will begin with students decorating Opportunity House?s dining area with centerpieces, lights, and various other ornaments provided by the Penn State Berks Hotel and Restaurant Society, as well as assembling ?Penn State Berks Cares? packages for the clients from 1?3 p.m. Then they will work on food preparation from 3?5 p.m. and begin cooking the dinner at 5 p.m.
Then at 7 p.m., students will serve the four-course meal complete with Penn State Creamery ice cream for dessert. Students will serve in the roles of cooks, sous chefs, hosts, waiters, and food runners. They will end the day by handing out the care packages to all of the residents.
Penn State Berks students providing a five-star dinner at Opportunity House has become a bi-annual event and it has grown in popularity with students, garnering more than 60 volunteers since its beginning in the fall of 2014. Throughout the academic year, Penn State Berks students will be ?lending their paws for a good cause? as they volunteer at a variety of nonprofit organizations.
For more information on the Opportunity House event, contact Brittney Schlechter, Student Activities Coordinator, at 610-396-6068 or via e-mail at [email protected].
