Founded in 1988 by local chef and entrepreneur David Lee, FareStart began as a business providing food for homeless shelters, recognizing a need to serve Seattle’s homeless and disadvantaged populations. In 1992, FareStart became a nonprofit organization, training the individuals they were serving. Lee recognized how powerful and uniting food was in transforming these individuals’ lives and sought out to empower them. Through their intensive training programs, FareStart prepares homeless and disadvantaged men and women for jobs in the food services industry, helping them achieve self-sufficiency. FareStart has transformed nearly 7,000 lives, while also serving over 6 million meals to disadvantaged men, women and children.

FareStart Students

On Thursday, June 5^th, FareStart will host the Guest Chef Spectacular, a premier tasting event celebrating these achievements and further supporting the organization’s values of acceptance respect, openness, collaboration, and sustainability. Held at the Showbox SoDo venue from 6:30 to 9:30pm, the event will showcase tastes from more than 60 of Seattle’s top restaurants, wineries, breweries, and distilleries that support FareStart’s mission. Proceeds from the event will benefit FareStart’s job training programs. KuKuRuZa is honored to donate to the Guest Chef Spectacular and support their efforts in empowering individuals to achieve their highest potential and positively transforming their lives.Visit the Guest Chef Spectacular event page for more information on how to attend.

Interested in supporting FareStart’s mission? Check out their restaurant on 7^th and Virginia, where they serve lunch (M-F 11am – 2pm) and Guest Chef dinner (Th 5:30 – 8pm). Reservations are required. Learn more here.