Dear Friends, My name is Bruno Serato and I am the owner of the Anaheim White House Restaurant, and founder of Caterina’s Club, a 501(c) (3) charitable organization. Since 2005, I have been feeding homeless ‘motel children’ through participating Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCAs, other after-school programs, churches, and local organizations who provide outreach services. Together we are leading the fight to end childhood hunger in our community. Even though we just celebrated 1 million meals served, our long term goal has always been to go global with our programs. We have made amazing, but small, progress in going global and have inspired other locations to replicate this program. Texas, New York, Chicago, Mexico, and even Italy have furthered our mission in ending childhood hunger. This is not an easy task, but through community outreach and partnerships with local restaurants and organizations, we can truly make a difference in the lives of
Transcript
Dear Friends,
My name is Bruno Serato and I am the owner of the Anaheim White House Restaurant, and founder of Caterina’s Club, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Since 2005, I have been feeding homeless ‘motel children’ through participating Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCAs, other after-school programs, churches, and local organizations who provide outreach services. Together we are leading the fight to end childhood hunger in our community. Even though we just celebrated 1 million meals served, our long term goal has always been to go global with our programs. We have made amazing, but small, progress in going global and have inspired other locations to replicate this program. Texas, New York, Chicago, Mexico, and even Italy have furthered our mission in ending childhood hunger. This is not an easy task, but through community outreach and partnerships with local restaurants and organizations, we can truly make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children everywhere. I want to share with you how Caterina’s Club and the Boys & Girls Clubs have worked together to accomplish this in hope that you can replicate our model in your own communities.
As the owner of a restaurant, I began by using my own resources (kitchen, staff, and food) to feed the hungry children in my community. I make spaghetti with vegetables mixed into marinara sauce to provide a balanced and nutritious meal. The cost is minimal (see costs below) and the impact is incredible.
My restaurant patrons began volunteering and donating pasta and sauce after word got out about what I was doing. This increased their connection and commitment to perpetuating this project, as well as reduced my costs considerably. One bag of pasta is only about $1.50 and can feed up to 7 children.
Many of the children living in motels did not have transportation to and from the Boys & Girls Clubs, a safe and positive environment, so I purchased a van to help transport the children daily. We also used this van to deliver pasta to several after-school programs and clubs, however most clubs now pick up the pasta at my restaurant as it is more sustainable for us here at the restaurant.
We hold annual food drives and fundraising events for additional support. Below are attached logos, pictures, and a tri-fold program page which are all resources provided for you to hold a pasta drive. A few suggestions to hold a pasta drive would be at your workplace, through the local schools, and churches are a great place to collect pasta and sauce. As you can see, this model is very simple, and would be quite easy to adapt to the needs of your community.
I do not want you to get discouraged and think you need to own a restaurant to be a catalyst in the community. Some of the organizations that we collaborate with use their kitchen to cook the pasta for their community while we donate our pasta to them. This is a great opportunity to teach the kids how to cook pasta and be autonomous. I encourage the older children to learn how to cook so they can go home and cook for their younger siblings when the parents are unavailable.
I understand that every partner we work with is unique and I tailor each pasta program to them. A few of the Boys and Girls Clubs have a volunteer pick up cooked pasta from my restaurant just to take it back to their club to send it home with the children strictly as to-go meals for them and their families. I encourage this because it not only feeds the kids but it accentuates family bonds as they eat it together at home and will be feeding hungry younger siblings.
You may not be a restaurant owner, but I encourage you to reach out to local restaurants and organizations with a working kitchen in your community to see if they would like to get involved and collaborate in this worthwhile project. You can also partner with local schools and after-school programs like YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs to find locations where food can be served. Get creative and find opportunities to implement a pasta program in your area. I really hope that you all make time to help me continue our passion of having no child go hungry! These children are our future and if we all do our part we can make a difference. If you would like to start a Caterina’s Club program in your community, or if you have any questions and would like to hear more about my story or our organization, please contact us at: 657-201-3278. I hope that my story touches your heart and inspires you to start a program like this in your community. I wish you all the best and hope to hear from you all soon.
Ciao,
Bruno
WHAT CATERINA’S CLUB DOES
Caterina’s Club provides food and shelter to the homeless motel children of Southern California, supported by a vision of creating a modicum of consistency in these children’s lives through something as simple, yet meaningful, as a nightly dinner.
Currently feeding approximately 1,800 children per day at 23 different locations in 14 cities located in both LA and Orange County. We have served over one million hearty pasta meals to date.
Several times per year, Caterina’s Club donates uncooked pasta and sauce to Section 8 housing (approx. 500 local area families) and mobile home parks (120 families). Each donated bag costs approx. $50.
HOW WE DO IT
Began a relationship with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Anaheim.
Use our own kitchen facility and chefs to store and prepare food.
Acquired a van to transport children to/from school or motels to Boys & Girls Clubs, as well as deliver pasta.
Asked our restaurant customers for food (pasta and sauce) donations.
Daily Schedule:
3:00pm – Vans pick up food from our restaurant
3:30pm – Food arrives at Boys & Girls Clubs
4:00pm – Children eat
5:00pm – Vans take children back to motels
WHY WE SERVE PASTA; THE POWER OF PASTA
One of the incredible things about pasta is that it’s versatile. It’s filling and inexpensive to prepare. When combined with a sauce based on vegetables or legumes it provides important fiber, vitamins and minerals. It is a sustainable food and the production of pasta has less impact on the environment compared to many other foods. Pasta is more energy dense and discourages waste because leftovers can be used to create delicious dishes, especially with the addition of healthful ingredients like olive oil, fish and meat. Pasta is also advantageous to serve because it is light weight, it doesn’t need refrigeration, and its packaging is completely recyclable. The most important goal of this program is to end child hunger and I’ve never found a child who categorically says they don’t like pasta.
2015 CATERINA’S CLUB PRICE PER CHILD BREAKDOWN
Non-Donated Food Cost (based on feeding 100 children per day) Pasta cost - .174Sauce with vegetables added cost - .12Per Day - $29.40
Per 30-day Month – $588.00
Other costs to consider (may vary and be offset by using volunteers and food donations):
Food preparation/labor
Disposables (bowls, forks, napkins) which may be contributed at individual locations
Transportation of food and/or children (labor for transportation)
Kitchen or Facility fees (including rent, utilities, etc.)
Estimated total cost per child per day with donated pasta/sauce: 0.535 cents
PREPARATIONS
Cooking the Pasta:
For the pasta, bring 5 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Add 1 pound of spaghetti or other pasta and cook until barely al dente. Drain and put pasta on the serving dish.
Marinara Recipe:
Mamma’s Marinara Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil¾ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon black pepper1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic6 peeled tomatoes¼ cup fresh chopped basil
Place in a medium hot skillet the oil, garlic, tomatoes, salt, and pepper and bring it to the boiling point. Turn down the heat and let simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. At the last minute stir in the basil.*(4 servings) This recipe is only suggested and passed down from generations through Mamma Caterina herself. We encourage you to use your own Mamma’s recipe to feed the kids! However, we understand you will mainly use the sauce that is donated through your pasta drives and donations. Due to the fact that we serve every night we have established a rotating pasta schedule to ensure the kids are not only healthy, but happy.
Monday Tuesday Wed Thursday Friday Sat/Sun
Marinara Alfredo Bolognese Marinara Bolognese
We also provide pasta on the weekends for events outside of the clubs which only operate Monday thru Friday. These events are usually executed in collaboration with other nonprofits or local establishments like churches who hold these events on the weekends. We encourage you to provide assistance to these efforts if it is within your means.
Transporting the Pasta:
After cooking the pasta in your facility, you must properly wrap it up to transport it to the feeding locations. If you have serving trays with corresponding lids that is fine, if not then wrap the pasta with either foil or plastic wrap. This ensures the pasta will be served warm for the kids. We do require the volunteers who pick up the pasta to do so with expediency to serve the kids. We do not want the integrity of the pasta to be compromised and have the kids eat soggy pasta. It is important to Chef Bruno that the kids not only get nutritious meals but also enjoy the pasta!
NAMING YOUR PROGRAM
Congratulations you have almost done it! Caterina’s Club was inspired by the beautiful Mother of Bruno, Caterina Lunardi. While Caterina’s Club is growing quickly and our name becomes stronger everyday, we encourage you to model your name after us. We suggest the new replicated programs call themselves Caterina’s Project. This is to provide the new program with clout and traction to build relationships within the community faster. Another suggestion would be to name it after your own wonderful mother, __________’s Club. This program is now a big part of your life and we want you to be proud and invested in it, nothing says that more than representing your mother’s name.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR DONATIONS TAX DEDUCTIBLE: BECOME A 501(c)3
Your program is not covered by Caterina’s Club’s tax ID number. You need to apply for your own tax exempt status. You can do so by following the link provided and filling out all necessary information there.
Attached are resources for a pasta drive; they include pictures of Sir Chef Bruno with the kids, the kids alone, an informational program trifold, and Caterina’s Club logo.
This model can be easily replicated by asking local restaurants to donate resources on a regular basis and develop a relationship with local Boys & Girls Club or similar after-school programs. You should contact the Director of the local Boys & Girls Club first to get their approval and then contact the specific site manager.
If there are no restaurants willing to participate, a separate kitchen facility could be purchased and utilized. You would need to find something close to a participating after-school program, hire a cook/manager to run the facility, and hire a driver or get volunteers to help transport the food.
Our goal is to have a facility that provides food next to every Boys & Girls Club in America. That’s over 4,000 locations! YES, WE CAN DO IT!! To request more information about start-up costs and processes, please call us at (657) 201-3278.
