On Thursday, November 21, hospitality students from South San Francisco Adult School, San Mateo Adult School, Skyline College and Baden High School spent the day serving food, busing and cleaning tables and interacting with guests at St. Anthony’s Dining Room in the Tenderloin in San Francisco. Students, all enrolled in the Hospitality, Tourism and Management HTM. 125 course Restaurant and Banquet Operations had the opportunity to practice their hospitality skills and volunteer their talents, building on topics they have learned in class.
St. Anthony’s Dining Room provides meals for those in need and is open 365 days a week, serving almost 3,000 hot meals per day in an area with high poverty and homelessness. For many of the guests there, this would their only meal for the day. Student Melencio Claros said he learned many things during the experience, but most importantly, he learned “to be grateful.” After five hours of volunteering, the students were exhausted but happy to be able to contribute to the community and to demonstrate the true meaning of hospitality.
The HTM.125 class would like to thank Andrea Vizenor and Strategic Partnerships and Workforce Development for their support and Joe Morello and the Kinesiology Department for the generous use of their vans. A big thank you also goes out to the staff at Baden High School and South San Francisco and San Mateo Adult Schools.
Article by Serena Chu-Mraz