2024 was another incredible year for our community. Because of you, we served more people, enrolled and graduated more apprentices, and engaged volunteers to serve more hours than we ever have before.
So much happened in 2024, it’s hard to sum up the year. But in true Tonight Show fashion, here are Jeff’s Top 10 from 2024.
No. 10: An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Our menu changes as often as the seasons. It is a mix of healthy and hearty meals to accommodate the foodies in the neighborhood while also remembering this may be the only meal some of our guests eat all day. Texas A&M research found that our guests are twice as likely to eat in alignment with their nutritionally dependent diets by simply dining at Taste Community Restaurant. Guests consumed more vegetables, more fruits (specifically whole fruits), less sodium, and less refined grains–all of which reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
No. 9: Cooking Up Success
Our Culinary Job Training Program provides tuition-free, certified, paid culinary job training for low-income adults looking to advance to a living wage quickly. In 2024, we reduced our cohort sizes and increased program access for our community. As a result, we enrolled more apprentices than ever before! Our Culinary Job Training Program reflects our vision to see our community become the response and the solution to the challenges our community faces, particularly as it relates to hunger.
No. 8: Reap the Community Rewards
Taste Buds are Taste Project’s diners, doers (which includes volunteers and apprentices), and donors. This Summer, we launched our new Community Rewards Program where Taste Buds earn points every time you volunteer at Taste Community Restaurants, and every time you participate in our partner resources. In time, we hope to add rewards for dining and donating to support the work we do to feed, educate, and serve our community.
No. 7: Celebrating Our Volunteers
80% of the team at Taste Community Restaurant are volunteers who do everything in the restaurant. Volunteers greet guests at the door and help them find a seat, take orders and pour drinks, and chop, prepare, and plate food to order. This year, we added seven Taste Buds to our Volunteer Pillar at Taste Community Restaurant in Fort Worth. Our Volunteer Pillar recognizes volunteers who have served 1,000 hours at Taste Community Restaurant helping to feed, educate, and serve our community.
No. 6: Celebrity Chef Events
This Summer, we relaunched our Celebrity Chef events to help raise funds to support our pay-what-you-can and culinary programs offered at Taste Community Restaurant. We are grateful for the support from Fort Worth’s Chef Jon Bonnell (Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine), Chef Juan Rodriguez (Magdalena’s Catering and Events), and Chef Kevin Martinez (Tokyo Cafe). We are alo grateful for Arlington’s Chef David Pacheco (Restaurant506 at The Sanford House), Chef Maurice Ahern (Grounds and Gold), and Chef Moose Benhamacht (Cafe Americana).
No. 5: New Partnerships Supporting our iHEAL Collaboration
With funding from Texas Health Resources, Taste Project expanded the iHEAL Collaborative that addresses health equity needs in Tarrant County. Our nonprofit partners provide free resources on-site at Taste Community Restaurant on Mondays when the dining room is closed. Resources include financial literacy workshops by Pathfinders, basic health assessments by TCU’s Harris College of Nursing and Public Health Sciences, and Nutrition Counseling. In 2024, ChristianWorks became a nonprofit partner offering mental health counseling.
No. 4: Home Sweet Home
Our Fort Worth restaurant offers the perfect location to serve our community. After volunteering with us, U.S. Representative Marc Veasey helped secure $500,000 in federal funding for Taste Project as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. This funding will help us purchase our Fort Worth building and provide a forever home to our Culinary Workforce Development Program and Pay-What-You-Can Meal Services.
Read More from Congressman Veasey
No. 3: An Arling-Ton of Good
Taste Project has partnered with the City of Arlington to replicate our Taste Community Restaurant program at 200 N. Cooper Street in Arlington. Last Spring, we launched the public phase of our Capital Campaign inviting faith leaders, community members, and local residents to ‘taste and see’ what will soon be Taste Community Restaurant Arlington. This Summer, we successfully raised the capital to complete construction. Soon, our contractor will complete the renovations and we will be able to announce an opening date!
No. 2: The Keith Lee Effect
We launched the year with a visit from renowned TikTok food critic and mixed martial artist, Keith Lee, who surprised our guests and staff on his first and only Fort Worth stop on his DFW Food Tour. Lee is best known by his 16 million social media followers for making unplanned visits to local restaurants in various US cities to sample and rate the food on a scale from one to ten. During his visit, Keith Lee said Taste Community Restaurant was, “one of the dopest restaurants I have ever seen.” Since his visit, thousands have flocked to Taste Community Restaurant to ‘taste and see’ what we are all about.
No. 1: A Monumental Milestone!
We have officially served over 250,000 meals at Taste Community Restaurant! This is an amazing milestone that demonstrates what God can accomplish through our community at Taste Project and Taste Community Restaurant. Since God gave Jeff the vision for Taste Project years ago, we continue to be amazed at His faithfulness and provision. To all our staff, volunteers, diners, and donors, thank you for helping so many people in our community “taste and see the Lord is good.”
Thank you for all that you do for our community through Taste Project and Taste Community Restaurant! Here’s to an amazing New Year!!!
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About Taste Project
Taste Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit established to feed, educate, and serve our community so they may “…taste and see the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8. We believe everyone should have access to healthy nutritious food. Our vision is to see our community become the solution to the challenges our community faces as it relates to hunger. Our first project, Taste Community Restaurant at 1200 South Main Street in Fort Worth, focuses on healthy, quality meals made from fresh ingredients. Our menu has no prices. This is a give-and-take concept. We ask guests to do one of the following: 1) pay what you can afford, 2) pay what you would typically pay, or 3) pay what you would typically pay, plus a little extra. In 2024, Taste Project will open its second Taste Community Restaurant location at 200 North Cooper Street in Arlington. To learn more, visit us at www.tasteproject.org or find us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.