The St. Croix Foundation — a non-profit community organization dedicated to advancing the social, economic and business well-being of the U.S. Virgin Islands – has announced it will receive a $2,000 donation from the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF) to assist two students participating in an internship with Facebook. Each of the two St. Croix youths will be awarded a grant of $1,000 in assistance so that they may participate in a special internship at the corporate campus of Facebook, an online social networking service with more than 1.15 billion monthly users.
The special internship opportunity is a result of the youth volunteering their time to learn from and work alongside guest chefs during the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience, an annual series of events that raises funds for the St. Croix Foundation.
“Receiving this generous support from the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF) is helping ensure an incredible educational opportunity for these two young people,” said Roger Dewey, director of the St. Croix Foundation. “The work experience, education, contacts and life experience that Ms. Boyd and Mr. Tutein will gain at this internship will be invaluable. It is perfect that CHTAEF is part of making that happen.”
Each year, the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience invites celebrated chefs to participate in the fundraising events. The Facebook culinary team joined the 2013 event and spent almost a week working with culinary students of the St. Croix Career & Technical Center (CTEC). Boyd and Tutein worked tirelessly alongside the chefs, eager to learn. Their efforts paid off. The internship starts in February 2014.
CHTAEF, an independent non-profit, offers scholarships and special assistance for the education of Caribbean tourism industry personnel and students pursuing tourism and hospitality careers. Funds for these scholarships and grants are generated from corporate sponsorships, special events and benefit auctions. Hotels can donate to be included in future auctions to help support the efforts of the CHTAEF.
For more information visit http://www.caribbeanhotelassociation.com/CHTAEFabout.php.
Both chefs and students will return for the 2014 St. Croix Food & Wine Experience and their cooking skills can be tasted at the Sunset BBQ on April 11. For tickets to the Sunset BBQ, visit http://www.stxfoodandwine.com/buy-tickets/. Receive updates at facebook.com/STCROIXFoodandWineExperience or on Twitter @STXFoodandWine.
