KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Spot, a branch of The Prospect KC, is finally opening it's doors officially on Friday, after a soft launch the past few weeks.
KSHB introduced you to Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant in March. She's the founder of The Prospect KC, which helps people not only get jobs, but fights food insecurity, or food apartheid, as she calls it.
Now, the second part of The Prospect KC, The Spot, is opening it's doors as not only a full working cafe, but also a classroom for Chef Shanita's students.
Terra Rodgers, the executive chief trainer, joined the team six months ago, and has seen The Spot grow tremendously since then.
"If I was a kid and I saw someone who was my skin color, and my age, or you know my ethnicity, doing what it is that I want to do, it would make me want to do good," Rogers said.
It's that message that McAfee-Bryant wants to pass along. Her goal was to start something that would make a tangible impact on the community.
"We found at least a half a dozen Fortune 500 CEO’s who have done Ted Talks and said, 'I got my start in food,'" McAfee-Bryant said. "I was a bartender, I was a waiter, I was a fry cook at McDonalds, I worked at a bakery. They were able to take those skills that they learned and push themselves forward onto bigger and better things."
That's why she wants others to know her work is not specific to culinary skills and jobs.
"We have other employment partners that are not necessarily culinary," McAfee-Bryant said. "We’re just focusing in on those service skills that you get to help people."
Now, she's finally seeing the dream she cooked up come to life.
"Coming in here and seeing people sitting at tables, and seeing people buzz around the kitchen, and starting to see it function," McAfree-Bryant said. "Looking outside of my window right now and seeing my neighbors walk away with produce — this is what we’re supposed to be doing."
McAfee-Bryant has acquired national acclaim for her work. She attended the White House National Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, and was selected to attend the James Beard Foundation’s Chef Bootcamp for Policy and Change.
It was there she met Chef Toni Elkhouri from Florida, who gladly accepted an invite to participate in a fundraiser for The Prospect KC last year, and this year, as well.
"This is a total 180 from last year," Elkhouri said when describing The Spot's growth in one year. "It’s the impact it’s made, but it’s also the impact that it’s going to make. The fact that she could do this much in a year, with like, limited budgets and, you know, what the whole world was going through, the sky’s the limit."
McAfee-Bryant recently celebrated her birthday, and reflects on how so much can change in one year.
"Making sure that I put together something here that was going to make a real tangible impact for the community that we’re in, and then all this other stuff has been a blessing," McAfee-Bryant said. "It doesn’t stop with The Spot. We’re going to keep on going."
The grand opening for The Spot is Friday, July 28, at 10:30 a.m. with a ribbon cutting a remarks.
Chef Shanita's Birthday Fundraising Dinner is Saturday, July 29 at The Spot. Customers can buy tickets and taste the work of Chef Shanita, Chef Toni Elkhouri and others from around the nation.
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