The 16th Culinary Futures Benefit is set for March 16 in Chicago concurrent with The Inspired Home Show 2024.
Proceeds from the 2024 Culinary Futures event, presented by Harold Imports Company, will benefit No Matter What, a not-for-profit mentorship program that invests in youth in the Chicago area to further their culinary training through career support and college scholarships. The event will support the No Matter What community center redevelopment on Chicago’s South Side.
No Matter What was founded by Kenneth Griffin, a 2010 Culinary Futures scholarship recipient who became a Chicago police officer after starting his career in the culinary and hospitality businesses. Griffin launched No Matter What in 2015 to provide programs for young people to help lay the groundwork for their successful futures.
The 2024 Culinary Futures benefit is Sunday, March 16, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Fairlie, 339 North Bell Ave. in Chicago. The program includes food prepared by high school culinary arts students.
Tickets for the 2024 Culinary Futures event can be purchased here.
Harold Import Company (HIC) and Culinary Futures, since 2008, have provided underserved youth with culinary training in high school, job placement and college scholarships. Through its partnership with No Matter What that began in 2022, the Culinary Futures program in Chicago has evolved from its original culinary scholarship focus to reaching deeper into inner-city neighborhoods to open underserved youths to culinary education and career opportunities, said Robert Laub, president of HIC and founder of Culinary Futures.
The Culinary Futures program is also raising money to support Millie’s Camp and the Oliver Malcom 2024 Summer Experience to Italy. Millie’s Camp is a a summer camp for underserved youths to learn about culinary arts and hospitality management named in honor of Laub’s mother, Mildred Polansky, former president and owner of HIC. The Oliver Malcom Summer Experience to Italy is a culinary program for Chicago Public Schools students in partnership with No Matter What.
