Every year, underserved students across the country are at risk of leaving their public high schools. In fact, only about 55 percent in New York City graduate on time. Since 1990, the Career through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) has been helping young people finish high school, find internships, and advance to college and promising careers.
Most C-CAP students are considered “at-risk,” attending schools with low graduation and college attendance rates. The C-CAP program offers a striking example of what can be accomplished when educators, industry, and the philanthropic community are rallied to help young people enter the workforce, with 99 percent graduating from high school.
“C-CAP affords a unique opportunity to partner with a business sector to help disadvantaged young people gain access to exciting career opportunities and pathways to a better future,” says Diane Moss, President of the Helena Rubinstein Foundation, which began funding their New York City program in 1993.
C-CAP expands on traditional home economics by introducing public school students to the culinary skills and standards of professional restaurants. At the end of each school year, talented high school seniors participate in C-CAP’s annual cooking competition with the chance to compete for college scholarships.
C-CAP operates in 185 schools in 7 states, annually reaching 12,450 students and awarding more than 200 scholarships valued at $3 million. Graduates of the program have gone on to study at schools including the Culinary Institute of America and many have gone on to careers as chefs or managers in the food service and hospitality industries. 
Other Philanthropy New York members that have supported C-CAP include the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Clark Foundation, Frances L. & Edwin L. Cummings Memorial Fund, Jean and Louis Dreyfus Foundation, Charles Hayden Foundation, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation, The New York Community Trust, The Pinkerton Foundation, and The Starr Foundation.