William Tillinghast, academic director of culinary at The Art Institute of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, was awarded the Doing The Most Good Community Leadership Award from The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia at their fundraiser for the Soups On! Project on October 24.
“I am honored to receive the Doing The Most Good award from The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia. Soups On! provides a valuable resource to our community and I am proud to be a part of it,” says Tillinghast.
Tillinghast, former board member of The Salvation Army, was presented with the Doing The Most Good Community Leadership Award by Major Robert W. Dixon, director of operations for The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia.
“Chef Tillinghast, from the inception of the project has guided me with advice concerning our curriculum, how to solicit students, finding employers to hire students and has always supported our fundraising efforts,” says Arlene Olsen, director of Soups On!
The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia’s Soups On! Project is a job training and placement program to help unemployed and under-employed individuals prepare for new careers in the culinary field. Participants learn traditional cooking techniques, catering sales, and business management. To date, the program has graduated 450 people with an 89 percent job retention rate.
Tillinghast currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Culinary Federation (ACF) as national treasurer. He is a member of the ACF Philadelphia Delaware Valley Chefs Association and is a former regional vice president of the ACF Northeast Region. Tillinghast was inducted into the American Academy of Chefs, the ACF’s honor society for chefs, in 2002.
