ASTORIA – On September 26, the Variety Boys and Girls of Queens (VBGCQ) was proud to unveil their new Teaching Kitchen, made possible by the Grubhub Community Fund. The kitchen is a part of a long-term partnership with Grubhub to provide food-choice education and healthy eating options to the 4,000 young people the club serves. As part of the investment the Grubhub Community Fund grant will provide $500,000 in capital funding for a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen in their new building and $750,000 in program support for operations and educational programming for the kitchen. Today’s unveiling is part of Grubhub’s support for Hunger ActionMonth, recognized nationally throughout September.

Food educators from Plant Powered Metro provided a cooking demonstration for the students at VBGCQ as part of the announcement showing them how to cook healthy food with everyday items in their kitchen.

The new state of the art teaching kitchen is slated to open in 2026. The kitchen will be about 1,000 square feet equipped with refrigerators, oven and all the accouterments needed to allow more than 10,000 students annually to learn about healthy food options and how to cook them.

“Thank you to Grubhub for making this critical $1.25 million investment in the future of our children. Not far from our club is a food desert where access to healthy fruits and vegetables are limited. The Grubhub Community Fund grant will allow our children access to healthy foods and teach them how to prepare them at home in a state-of-the-art space. This partnership over the next decade will bear the fruit of providing children with the knowledge necessary to make good food choices, making them healthier and teaching their families how to be healthier. Our children will be grateful to Grubhub for years to come,” said Costa Constantinides, CEO Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens.

“The Grubhub gift to our kids is a great example of New York philanthropy. Grubhub’s support is a gain for our most vulnerable population,” said Walter Sanchez, president of the board of directors at Variety Boys & Girls Club.