Three months after their culinary training at Ducasse Institute Philippines, 10 scholars of the Youth with a Future initiative had their graduation ceremony at Enderun Colleges’ Restaurant 101. These 10 scholars from Tuloy Foundation were chosen to have their culinary training at Ducasse Institute Philippines after a successful charity dinner and auction held last March with guest of honor, world-renowned chef and founder of Ducasse Education, chef Alain Ducasse. Among the guests of the graduation ceremony were donors and supporters of Youth with a Future, including David Batchelor, managing director of Raffles and Fairmont Makati, a long-time supporter of Tuloy. Also in attendance were Dr. Edgardo Rodriguez, president of Enderun Colleges and Fr. Rocky Evangelista, founder of Tuloy Foundation. As part of their graduation, chef Cheong Yan See, culinary head of Enderun Colleges, assigned the scholars to prepare dinner for the guests. The four-course menu consisted of Seafood Vera Cruz, assorted cold seafood, tomato syrup; beef consommé celestine, double beef consommé with fine herb crepe; Moroccan spiced beef tenderloin, carrot, chermoula, couscous; and Menton lemon tart. After the dinner service, Fr. Evangelista expressed his gratitude to the generous donors who invested in the scholars. He emphasized his goal to eradicate the society of homeless children by giving them opportunities to pursue their dreams. Chef See then awarded each student with a Certificate of Culinary Arts from Ducasse Education in France. Furthermore, he formally announced that the scholars were successfully placed for internship at acclaimed establishments — Vask, Chateau 1771, Soprano Restaurant of the City of Dreams, and Raffles and Fairmont Makati. He added that four of the scholars have been accepted to work at Four Seasons Resort Dubai. A project of Ducasse Education in France and Ducasse Institute Philippines at Enderun Colleges, Youth with a Future was inspired by the “Women with a Future” initiative led by Alain Ducasse Enterprise where underprivileged women from Paris are selected to train for a year in a specially designed culinary program. The training program concludes with an apprenticeship in one of Alain Ducasse’s restaurants. Similarly, Youth with a Future aims to support and provide educational scholarships to a select group of culinary students of Tuloy Foundation. Tuloy Foundation is a non-government and non-profit organization that provides residential care and comprehensive educational programs for street children in order to reintegrate them into mainstream society. In close coordination with Tuloy, Ducasse Institute Philippines enhanced the curriculum of Tuloy’s culinary center by patterning it after the existing programs offered in Enderun’s campus. Following an eight-month program in Tuloy’s campus, the scholars were exposed to further training at Ducasse Institute Philippines for three months. Youth with a Future is a long-term initiative of Ducasse Education in France and Ducasse Institute Philippines. Another batch of scholars from Tuloy Foundation will be accepted next year. For those who wish to support this project, e-mail info@youthwithafuture.ph or visit www.youthwithafuture.ph.