Kaleidoscope Kitchen will soon train minority food entrepreneurs in Binghampton thanks to a new, $200,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation.
The kitchen will give them access to commercial kitchen facilities and small business training. The program will also offer minority entrepreneur-provided catering services and host an annual Kaleidoscope Food Festival.
The grant will be administered through the Binghampton Development Corporation (BDC). Noah Gray, BDC executive director, said the grant will improve the lives of area residents.
“We are excited to work with our neighbors to provide a relevant response to decades of urban plight and disinvestment that have kept Binghampton residents at the margins,” said Gray.
Partners in the program include EPIcenter Memphis, Caritas Village, Refugee Empowerment Program, World Relief Memphis, Wiseacre Brewing Company, Broad Ave Arts District, and Community LIFT.
The BDC is one of 23 organizations from across the country that got a grant through Kresge’s Fresh, Local & Equitable (FreshLo) initiative, which supports neighborhood-scale projects leveraging healthy food and creative placemaking for equitable economic development.