CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Three nonprofits are working together under one roof in Charlotte to fight hunger.
"Here I come. Am I holding up progress?" says Sybil Durant, as she moves quickly around the kitchen she manages.
Durant's is no ordinary kitchen, and the people working for her are no ordinary cooks.
"I had alcohol and substance abuse problems," said one cook, William.
Durant, herself, acknowledges, "Yes, I did time."
But that was a long time ago and this kitchen turned things around.
"I came here looking for a job and now it's a career," Durant said.
She came to the Community Culinary School of Charlotte 10 years ago. It's a nonprofit that Chef Ron Ahlert runs.
"Our graduating class, class 35 was the biggest it's ever been because of the economic tsunami that's on top of us," Ahlert said. "They're coming from all different walks of life -- addiction, homeless, hunger. It's much more than that. It's folks who have lost their security jobs, their truck driving jobs, moms what have to come back into the workforce."
And what's really unique is the way the nonprofit allows the students to pay for their classes.
"That tuition is to be of service to Friendship Trays -- to help their mission get completed by working in the kitchen, by cooking the food, by filling the trays," said Ahlert.
The trays he's talking about belong to Friendship Trays -- the second non-profit under this roof.
"It is a wonderful partnership because the collaboration provides Friendship Trays with the labor force that it needs to keep our cost down," said Friendship Trays Executive Director Lucy Bush Carter.
Friendship Trays makes sure 600 to 800 meals on wheels are delivered across Charlotte every day.
Once they're done helping with that, the students spend the afternoon in cooking school.
"It's just a win-win," said Ahlert.
"Helping someone else makes me feel better about myself," said William.
Durant says, "Knowing that I was doing something on a positive level to help somebody else -- well, the bottom line, it was really helping me more than it was helping them."
Now, as a 10-year alum of the program, Durant is full of pride.
"It's a lot of fun when you see the newcomer coming through the door. You look back and say, 'Wow, that's me all over again' and you just want the same success for them," she said.
The same success these two non-profits have found.
"The goal is fighting hunger and doing it as efficiently and effectively as we possibly can," said Carter.
There is a third organization -- The St. Andrews Society Gleaners -- also sharing space in this kitchen. They go out to area farms and take leftover food and deliver it to the needy.
For more information on the agencies, visit communityculinary.org and friendshiptrays.org.
