St Anne's School/ ServSafe @ Certified

The Center for faith-based and community learning located in Charlottesville, Virginia proudly serves St Anne's Belfield School. Chef Ralph Brown is pleased to announce that he had the pleasure of being the Instructor for the current Chef for St Anne's Belfield School last month.

The staff and management paid to have Chef Johnathan Boroughs take and pass the ServSafe@ Manager Certification course with a high score. Thus continuing our goal of bringing, and maintaining the level of excellence in food service for the Charlottesville Commnity. Thank you St Anne's for your continued commitment to food safety for your students, teachers, and staff.

Region 1/Community Builders Network of VA Conference

The Center for faith-based and community learning located in Charlottesville, Virginia proudly presents the 2nd Region One/Community Builders Network of VA Conference, Friday, November 20, 2009 in Charlottesville, VA.

"Save the Date", the event is a banquet style event scheduled to be held at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 190 Rugby Rd, Charlottesville,VA 22903, from 6PM til 9PM.

There will be musical guests and Community Builders Network Speakers from across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Tickets for the event will go on sale October 15th, and seating is limited. The theme for this years conference is "Creating Tomorrows Young Leaders Today".

The keynote speaker will be our own Colonel Ronald Matthews, Superintendent of the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, located here in Charlottesville, VA.

This years honorary C H Brown Memorial Award will go to Church of God In Christ, Evangelist Missionary Martha Johnson-Walker for her contributions and many years of service to the Charlottesville Albemarle Community. Her daughter Perrie was the last recipient of this award for serving as Youth Representative for the Community Builders Network of Virginia 2004-2008.

Martha was a long time employee for the City of Charlottesville, Parks & Recrection Department: where she developed the annual "Hoops for Tots" Christmas event. She was a site supervisor at both Tonsler and Washington Park locations. She is the founder of the local Music Resource Center Program located in the old Mt Zion Baptist Church.

Farmington Country Club : Mission Statement

The Center for faith-based and community learning located in Charlottesville, Virginia proudly serves the Farmington Country Club.

"Farmington Country Club is a traditional, family-oriented private club with a proud history, rich traditions, and commitment to the customs of southern hospitality and gracious living"

Last month Chef Brown proudly served as the ServSafe Instructor for the Executive Chef of the Farmington Country Club. The Executive Chef intends to become a ServSafe Instructor himself, and administers the class to as many persons on his staff as he deems necessary. While this may bring about some competition for Chef Brown in the Charlottesville market.

Our attitude is "bring it on", ServSafe@ Food Safety is a good tradition for the Farmington Country Club to add to it's many other fine traditions. Congratulations to the Management, Staff and the Executive Chef of the Farmington Country Club, ServSafe Manager Certification from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation was an excellent choice. www.Farmingtoncc.com

ServSafe@ Food Safety online course

The Center for faith-based and community learning located in Charlottesville, Virginia wants you to know that the ServSafe@ Food Safety course may be taken online. This may indeed be the best option for those persons with a schedule to busy to sit through an eight hour class. The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation still require that the course exam be proctored by a Certified Instructor, but that can take as little as a half hour.

So for the convenience of those persons who spend a lot of time at their computer, and have a little extra money to spend, log on to the www.servsafe.com website and follow the prompts. Take the course, purchase an online seat number and call Chef Brown. Last month Chef Brown was able to proctor an online student in his office while administering the regular monthly students paper exam. Our next scheduled class is May 17,2009 at the VOP Building, 703 Concord Ave, Charlottesville, VA 22903.

Yolanda at Taco Bell/ Taco Bell

The Staff here at the Center for faith-based and community learning located in Charlottesville, Virginia would like to thank Yolanda Jackson for letting us serve by helping her get ServSafe Certified. We are so proud of Yolanda for her strong spirit, work ethic, and her willingness to arrive early and stay late.

That is exactly what Yolanda (age 27,mother of 5), did last month to get herself re-certified in ServSafe Food Safety. Yolanda a Manager at the Taco Bell in Fredericksburg, VA arrived early at the site and took a nap on the desk waiting for Chef Brown. Then at the close of the day prior to test time she had to leave and pick up two of her kids from day care. She came back, took the test and failed it by four points.

Showing that she is not a quiter, she paid herself to take the test again (two weeks later), and passed by a considerable margin. This was at the close of a work day, twelve hour shift. Always smiling, she showed true courage, and self confidence in her commitment to excellence for us and her employer Taco Bell. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you Yolanda Jackson

Chef Ralph Brown /IRON CHEF /2004

The Center for faith-based and community learning located in Charlottesville, Virginia takes a look back to remember past events. The Daily News-Record, Lee Zion writes, "CHEFS COMPETE FOR CHARITABLE CAUSE".

"Chef Ralph Brown explains the secret behind making a good omelet--saute the veggies first. Then pour in the eggs. That way, the flavor of the vegetables permeates the whole omelet, he said.

Use a Teflon skillet, so the omelet won't stick, and you can flip the omelet into the air, Brown said as he demonstrated with a snap of the wrist. Brown was one of six chefs from the region participating in the Taste of Harrisonburg Iron Chef competition. Brown (a member of the Blue Ridge Chef's Association) runs a food safety/service training program through Project Food Chain in Charlottesville.

Chefs were invited to cook up their best for a paying audience, with the proceeds going to charity. The event, organized by Clear Channel Communications, raised money for Toys For Kids, a local program that gives toys to about 400 needy children every year, said Susie Smith Niarhos, 48, sales manager for Clear Channel.

Although Clear Channel runs a charity event for Toys For Kids every year, this (2004)event is the first time a chefs' cook-off was organized around it. Niarhos hopes it will become an annual event. "It's For The Kids"

Thanks / Mel's for ServSafe Committment

The Center for faith-based and community learning located in Charlottesville, Virginia would like to thank Mel's Cafe on West Main Street for their strong commitment to food safety. Mel's brother Arthur Walker recently passed the ServSafe Manager Certification course with over 90% score. This follows Mel himself passing the course last year, and another employee on track to re-certify this month.

Chef Brown and his son Ralphie were featured in a local TV promotion for Mel's (seen here in front of Mel's cafe). Chef Brown claims Mel's has some of the best down-home cooking in town. "ServSafe and good food, a great combination".