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>> [ANCHOR]: Area veterans are looking to begin a new chapter in their post-military
lives. YNN Mike Hedeen reports after serving their country they are now trained in a field
that will allow them to continue serving others.
>> [REPORTER]: At the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua, ten area veterans were
the first to graduate from a new culinary training program.
>> [LEW SPENCER]: With the job market being so saturated with unemployed people right
now, when this opportunity was presented to me, I felt that it would give me a little
upper hand in finding employment. >> [REPORTER]: Each of these vets look at
this as a fresh start, an opportunity to try something new, and they all say they're enjoying
their time in the kitchen. The program is a collaboration with Finger Lakes Community
College, the Veterans Outreach Center, and other businesses and organizations. Tuition
was provided by a Farm to Fork grant through RIT. The veterans served during Vietnam, Kosovo,
Afghanistan and both Iraq wars. Now they're ready to go to work as chefs and restaurant
managers. >> [MICHAEL GIBSON]: Everyone in this program
is motivated. No one shows up and says 'ah, we got to be here, this is horrible.' Everyone
is motivated to get it done, everyone's psyched to be here and it's been very enjoyable.
>> [REPORTER]: Their military backgrounds vary. Spencer was a cameraman at Fort Benning,
Georgia producing Army training videos. Gibson was a truck mechanic. Don Voorhees served
as a Navy medic. >> [VOORHEES]: I've always wanted to cook.
Cooking is a passion. My great-grandmother went to the Rochester Institute for the Deaf,
so she was sort of a homebody and she taught my mom, she taught me, she taught everybody
basically how to cook. >> [REPORTER]: Each student was either unemployed
or under-employed. They're hopeful that their culinary training will now lead to a long
and prosperous careers in the food industry. Mike Hedeen, YNN.