The Sixth Love Language: Chef Marianne's Culinary Passion

Believe it or not, the pink hair might be the least radiant thing about Chef Marianne Harris. If you ask any of her culinary students about her, common refrains include: Chef Marianne is great. She’s amazing. She’s fantastic. She’s patient with me. You don’t feel judged by her. She implements how she does things without making you feel run over. She answers all of your questions and takes time out for you.

Read More
StaffClaudia Winkler
Celebrating Trina Gambrell

In fall 2019, Trina Gambrell’s life got turned upside down when her 23-year-old son, Christopher, was shot in the head as an innocent bystander of a drive-by shooting. Having sustained an injury akin to JFK’s fatal bullet wound, Gambrell’s son was expected not to live, and doctors urged Trina to take him off of life-support.

Read More
Celebrating Ashley Daniels

As an engineer with several years of work experience at Michelin behind her, Ashley Daniels is—it’s fair to say—not the typical student who comes through the CC Pearce Culinary School. While Ashley loved working for Michelin as a tire designer, after a few years, she felt like she was just going through the motions.

Read More
Project Host Journey to Academy Street

Often when a nonprofit endures and grows, it’s because of more than just the fact that there is a need in the community. It takes a special person or group of people to keep the momentum going and move an organization forward. For Project Host, that person was longtime director Jody Fails, who began her oversight of the Soup Kitchen in 1986.

Read More
February 2021: Volunteer of the Month

Charles Leister has been faithfully volunteering with Project Host for seven years, typically twice a week. He’s our volunteer of the month in February because we know he can always be called upon to help if we’re short volunteers. We sat down with Charles to discover what motivates him to devote his time to the Soup Kitchen.

Read More
VolunteersClaudia Winkler
Celebrating Jada Barrett

Jada Barrett is a woman on a mission, focused on accomplishing goals and working her way up in her career. A mother of three children under the age of five, Jada spends her days in the CC Pearce Culinary School at Project Host learning and earning her ServSafe certification, and her nights and weekends working at Copper River Grill.

Read More
StudentsClaudia Winkler
Celebrating Whitney Pollard

Life threw Whitney Pollard for a loop when COVID hit. A single mother of three, Whitney suddenly found herself without school or daycare for Zavion (12), Parker (9), and Morgan (18 months). Like so many women across the country, Whitney had no choice but to quit her job and manage her children’s remote learning and care.

Read More
StudentsClaudia Winkler
Celebrating Amy Espittia

Amy Espittia always had a fondness for the culinary arts, and for bakeries and baking in particular, because some of the few fond childhood memories she has of her mother revolved around after school trips to a bakery and making cookies together.

Read More
StudentsClaudia Winkler
January 2021: Volunteer of the Month

After retiring to Greenville in 2020, Dave Gerhard looked for places to volunteer and came across Project Host. Dave works in the Soup Kitchen weekly, and this month he earned our special thanks by signing up for extra slots when he saw numbers were low and helping Chef Marianne in our culinary kitchen. We asked Dave what it is about Project Host that’s kept him coming back since September.

Read More
VolunteersClaudia Winkler
December 2020 Volunteer of the Month

Tony Ryan has a long history with Project Host. In fact, he met his wife, former Project Host Executive Director Sally Green, while they were both volunteers for the organization, and he oversaw the construction of the dining hall and Soup Kitchen when he was board chair over two decades ago. 2020 marks 30 years of service for Tony, and we had a chance to talk with him to understand what it is that keeps him coming back.

Read More
VolunteersClaudia Winkler