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Dear Chefs and friends,
During this upcoming Holiday season I would like to wish everyone a happy healthy Thanksgiving Holiday. As we gather with family and friends let us be thankful for all we have and all we shall receive. I am grateful for everything I have received this past year. I look forward to celebrating with family and friends as well as the chapter.
I am very thankful as I watch as our chapter continue to move forward and accomplish a lot of wonderful things. We have had a lot of great meetings this past year and the recent meeting at ACCC was fantastic. I thought the students along with the faculty did a wonderful job hosting the meeting. Our veteran's brunch was highly successful, and the vets and the home leadership let me know how grateful they all are for what we do to honor the vets at this time of year. Many chefs, students, and volunteers made a significant difference, which the vets very much loved. On behalf of the board and chapter, I would like to thank all the companies and good folks who have been contributing with donations and support to the chapter. Without our great distribution and sales community, we could not accomplish a lot of what we do.
Thank you to all the volunteers, both professional and students, who continue to be involved with the chapter and support our different programs and events.
I want to say thank you to the all the board members who give back in so many ways to help our chapter continue with its mission. I also have to say we have great members who give a lot and make our chapter better.
As we head into the holidays, please remember to think of others who are less fortunate. We have great chef members who will be cooking for others and some folks making contributions to various charities like our local food bank or Salvation army or other great charities and organizations.
On behalf of the board and board of trustees we say Happy Healthy Thanksgiving and wish everyone all the best.
Sincerely yours,
Chef David Goldstein President of the PCASJ
A chapter of the ACF
Our President's Message
February 5,2024
To our great chefs, members and friends - I wanted to take a moment and thank all the folks who have contributed to helping make our great chapter successful.
This past year went by fast, and I believe we did very well as a chapter. Many changes took place for me both personally and professionally but no matter what happened the chapter was always great to me, and I believe a resource for many of our chefs and friends. We are fortunate to be a part of something so great.
This past year we lost one of our leaders and hall of fame chefs Wolfgang Geckeler. He was a friend and mentor to us all. He will be missed but not forgotten.
During the past year we accomplished a lot of wonderful things. One of them was supporting the Food bank. Our chapter contributed to the food bank being able to raise enough money to feed tens of thousands of meals. We also helped the charity Let us eat Please and that event raised enough funds to feed over 25000 meals to kids.
We celebrated our South Jersey Veterans with the Operation serving those who served us Vets brunch. I was told this is their favorite event of the year.
We had great chapter meetings with many fantastic chefs. During the holidays we collected toys for the Salvation Army and Toys for Tots, and gave out over a hundred gifts. We entered a Gumbo contest for the first time and came in first place, winning a thousand dollars for the chapter. It was a wonderful experience. We had our first student culinary challenge & competition with three schools entering. All the students did an excellent job. Every student walked away with a financial prize to help them with their continuing education.
We were asked to send judges to Rutgers University to judge a serious culinary competition for the great culinary talent working at Rutgers. That was a wonderful experience, and we represented our chapter very well.
Our chapter treasurer and great Chef Lawrence Alexander won the L. EDWIN BROWN LEADERSHIP AWARD NORTHEAST REGION. This is one of the highest honors that can be given in the ACF.
In 2024 we expect to have another momentous year with many things to look forward to too. We just completed the Wing fest with Scott Cronick wing competition. We won best booth and display award. Not bad for our first time doing this.
I wish everyone great health and happiness throughout the year. I hope that everyone can please help spread the word about our great chapter and get new members and students involved.
I also wish to say thank you to all the folks who have contributed this past year as well as the great leadership from our board members. A lot of people contributed to making us better. They all did fantastic..
Thank you - Sincerely yours Chef David Goldstein President of the PCASJ.
