NEW MILFORD — Sam Hunt had a private school education and lots of choices when it came time for college.
Yet he and his family discovered soon after he began that he was not quite ready for the rigors of college. He tried some alternatives, but he struggled to find something that might lead to a satisfying career.
Then he enrolled at the Community Culinary School of Northwestern Connecticut in New Milford, a 12-week program that teaches unemployed and underemployed adults to work in the food service industry.
His father, Rob Hunt, who owns My Boy Sam’s Ltd. children’s wholesale clothing business on Wellsville Avenue, shared his son’s story Thursday morning at the school’s first “Big Breakfast Bash” in the parish hall of St. John’s Episcopal Church on the green. Hunt is a member of the school’s board of directors.
The breakfast was prepared by several graduates of Community Culinary School, including Richard Bishop Jr., who last year opened his own catering business in Brookfield.
Touting the school’s 97 percent graduation rate, Hunt said the school prepared his son to start a successful catering career in Florida. Since Sam graduated from the school in October 2010 and moved to Miami, he’s been one of the caterers for a 200-person luncheon staged by Donald Trump and a Super Bowl party hosted by rapper Snoop Dogg.
Sam Hunt and some other Miami-based chefs were recently tapped as caterers in an episode of the TV series “The Glades.” He is now employed as an event coordinator and prep chef for Eggwhites Special Events Catering in Miami.
The culinary school enabled Sam Hunt to “feel good about himself” and find a career niche, Hunt said.
In August, the school graduated its 100th student, a feat for a nonprofit organization that is self-funded with grants, donations and fundraisers, board vice president Jeff Kilberg explained.
Most of the students who enroll require scholarships to cover the $3,500 tuition.
As she finished her $10 breakfast, travel agent Tinker Hickey said she always appreciates the opportunity to “support local organization that better our town.”
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