JJ Seafood Crawl 2023 has officially ended. Thank you for your full support!
We want to give you a big thank you for joining us on our recent Seafood Crawl. Your ticket purchase didn't just get you some crab cakes, it also made a meaningful impact on the donations we were able to raise for Paul's Place and The Franciscan Center.
We hope you had a blast trying out all the different crab cake dishes at various restaurants throughout National Seafood Month. JJ McDonnell was excited to see the community come together to support these important culinary programs that teach life skills and promote workforce development. You played a huge role in making it happen, and we can't thank you enough!
You have casted your your votes! Check out the winners below!
Early Bird Tickets on sale August 1, 2023!
WHO WE WILL SUPPORT
All Proceeds from the J.J. McDonnell Seafood Crawl go to supporting our community with the culinary training needed for them to succeed in the food service industry.
Have you heard of Groundwork Kitchen? Not only is it an amazing restaurant, but it’s a carry-out cafe AND a catering business! But get this: it’s also a social enterprise, giving back to the community by supporting Paul’s Place’s Culinary Training Program.
This program not only trains and supports students to get real-world experience in the hospitality industry, but it’s open to people whose income is below Baltimore City’s median AND who have an interest in food service. The trainers are incredible! A Chef Trainer teaches everything from kitchen skills to safety and technique, while a case manager helps students overcome barriers to completing the program. And a workforce development manager helps map out career goals and gets trainees job placements.
Groundwork Kitchen is the first of its kind in Baltimore, and it’s been serving since ’82 as a community outreach center in the swank Pigtown neighborhood.
Dignity Plates is a culinary training academy part of The Franciscan Center’s effort to enhance community, reduce food insecurity, provide job-training and employment support in Baltimore City, while increasing economic inclusion throughout our community. This program, along with our established community meal service, continued expansion of catering, and food production provides opportunity for some of the most vulnerable citizens to achieve stability. In a typical month thousands of community members visit the Franciscan Center for a healthy meal prepared with fresh ingredients.
“It is the philosophy of the culinary team that taking the effort to create a memorable experience through food grown from their farm helps convey the Franciscan Centers acknowledgement of the intrinsic dignity of each recipient of their food.”
This no cost culinary training helps support the growth of our community and the advancement of the hospitality industry. The training academy teaches and demonstrates the fundamentals of scratch cooking, knife skills, basic baking principles, protein fabrication, culinary professionalism, and a chance to earn their ServSafe Certification, which helps individuals break into a culinary or food related career. Dignity Plates Training Academy lead by a team of passionate chef educators who thrive on seeing their students persevere and succeed.
ABOUT J.J. MCDONNELL
Since 1945, J.J. McDonnell has been a leader in the seafood game. We’re all about quality products and amazing service – whether you’re a small mom and pop joint or a big national chain. We’ve got fresh and frozen seafood, and we’re experts in the industry. We love providing our customers with all the know-how they need to blow their own seafood game out of the water!
At J.J. McDonnell, we get a real kick out of supporting our local community and resources. And we know our customers feel the same way – that’s why we go the extra mile to offer them the same opportunities to connect in ways they never thought possible. It’s all about giving back – we don’t saddle ourselves with limits, we just help wherever we can. After all, that’s what being a business in this great state is all about.
