Caridad Community Kitchen, which prepares meals for seniors, families, children in after-school programs, and the homeless, is undergoing a $1.5 million expansion.
The inner-city kitchen at 845 N. Main Ave. is expanding from 6,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, said Kristen Culliney, Caridadβs program manager, before a groundbreaking ceremony Friday afternoon.
Caridadβs feeding program is under the auspices of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Caridad means charity in Spanish. The program was acquired by the food bank in 2011.
The expansion, which was provided through private donations, will increase space in the kitchen, warehouse, offices and create a lobby. Construction is expected to be completed by July, Culliney said.
βOur hope is to grow our culinary training program that accommodates 14 students per class to 20 per class,β said Culliney.
The program is a 10-week course and since 2011 130 students have graduated, and about 87 percent have landed jobs.
Caridadβs kitchen staff consists of five workers, and with the addition of space, the feeding program will hire an additional five kitchen employees. Its free feeding programs will increase.
The staff currently prepares 160,000 meals a year for its feeding programs, and that number is expected to increase to 500,000 annual meals after the kitchen expansion is complete, said Culliney.
Caridad partners with 13 agencies that deliver and serve congregate meals at churches to the working poor, at homeless shelters, and at clubhouses of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson that operate after-school programs.
The feeding program also operates a full catering service.
