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 13, 2014. With the help of Mariel Alburquerque, head chef from the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Reading, students will serve Opportunity House clients a four-course meal and an evening to remember.
Students enrolled in college?s Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management program, the new four-year Hospitality Management program, and other student throughout the college will participate in this volunteer event coordinated by the Office of Campus Life.
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, a student club, 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.
In addition to our students, Chef Mariel Alburquerque has offered her services for the evening as head chef?providing a great way for students to interact directly with a successful professional in the hotel and restaurant industry and member of our community.
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.
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].
